President Donald Trump’s choice to lead the Department of Justice is facing a sudden hurdle from within Republican ranks. Interim Attorney General Todd Blanche, who has led the agency since April, now confronts open scepticism from a senior Republican senator. This comes just as his confirmation process reaches a critical vote.
Todd Blanche’s nomination stalls over the $1.776 billion fund and Donald Trump’s tax-audit protections
Senator John Cornyn told reporters on Wednesday that he was not ready to support Todd Blanche’s confirmation. “I’m not prepared to vote yes,” Cornyn said. The remarks landed a day before the Senate Judiciary Committee was set to vote on advancing the nomination, where any Republican defection could block Blanche from reaching a full Senate debate.
Cornyn has trained his fire on a May settlement Blanche negotiated. The deal ended a lawsuit Donald Trump had filed against the Internal Revenue Service. It shielded the president and his family from future IRS audits and established what officials called an “anti-weaponisation fund.” The fund would have allowed people with political persecution to seek financial compensation.
The fund got immediate bipartisan backlash. Critics labelled it a slush fund designed to reward the president’s allies. Earlier this month, a federal judge declared the settlement illegal, finding that Blanche had improperly acted on behalf of both the government and Trump as a private citizen.
Blanche has since publicly abandoned the scheme. During his confirmation hearing, he assured lawmakers the fund was dead. But Cornyn remains unconvinced. “I haven’t seen a single piece of writing that is responsive to what I’ve requested,” the senator said, referring to written guarantees he is still awaiting.
Asked about the friction during an Oval Office news conference, Trump defended his nominee. “All I can say is Todd Blanche is outstanding,” he said. He then questioned Cornyn’s motives. “Maybe John Cornyn’s upset with me because I didn’t endorse him. I don’t know what it is, but I haven’t heard that there’s a problem.” Blanche previously served as Trump’s criminal defence lawyer before becoming deputy attorney general.
(Source: Al Jazeera)
Originally reported by Devanshi Basu on Mandatory.
