Trump floats pulling Blanche AG nom until after GOP holdouts leave
Acting U.S. Attorney Todd Blanche arrives to speak at a press conference at the Robert F. Kennedy Department of Justice building in Washington, DC, on April 07, 2026.
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President Donald Trump said Thursday he is open to “temporarily withdrawing” Todd Blanche’s nomination for U.S. attorney until the two Republican candidates, Sens. John Cornyn and Thom Tillis, leave office next year.
Trump raised this possibility in a speech Real Social This post after she chastised GOP senators for continuing to support current Acting AG Blanche over ongoing concerns over the Justice Department’s controversial settlement of the president’s own IRS lawsuit.
Cornyn was quick to tell
Trump’s post came hours after the Senate Judiciary Committee, of which Cornyn and Tillis are members, postponed a vote on Blanche’s nomination scheduled for Thursday.
“Todd Blanche is a STAR and everyone knows it!” Trump wrote. But Cornyn and Tillis “refuse to vote for this Major Candidate, who will remain the Regent anyway.”
The president deserved credit for “ending” the political careers of Cornyn and Tillis, who left office in January. Cornyn won the Republican primary in Texas in May after he endorsed Trump’s opponent, State Attorney General Ken Paxton. Tillis, from North Carolina, announced last year that he would not seek reelection.
“Remember, both Cornyn and Tillis voted for Merrick Garland and too many others to count,” Trump said in the post, referring to former President Joe Biden’s AG pick. 70-30 approved in the Senate in 2021.
“If they don’t do the right thing, I have no objection to temporarily withdrawing Todd’s name and putting it back after Cornyn and Tillis are removed from office,” Trump added.
Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas (L) and Sen. John Tillis, R-NC (R)
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