Senators Cornyn and Tillis continue to hold out for a formal rescission of the ‘Anti-Weaponization Fund,’ intensifying the DOJ’s dilemma.
As discussed here yesterday, Todd Blanche’s nomination to be attorney general remains in limbo because two Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee, Senators John Cornyn of Texas and Thom Tillis of North Carolina, are pushing for a formal, written rescission of the so-called Anti-Weaponization Fund — the $1.776 billion slush fund for payouts to pardoned Capitol riot defendants derived from the “settlement agreement” that ended President Trump’s collusive lawsuit against his own executive agencies.
The Judiciary Committee meeting at which Chairman Chuck Grassley (R., Iowa) and other Trump supporters hoped to approve the nomination and move it for a full Senate vote was canceled. Otherwise, the committee would have voted down the nomination since all Democrats oppose it; to prevail, Blanche needs Republican unanimity.
According to Politico, the Justice Department is straining to craft a document that will satisfy the reluctant senators. It’s a dilemma for Blanche, as I surmised yesterday:
I imagine that the White House and DOJ are scrambling to craft some document, which can be publicly sold as a formal rescission of the fund, that the DOJ can sign but that Trump’s lawyer doesn’t sign, so it can be made to look as if the president did not back down to Cornyn and Tillis. Such a document would not be an effective rescission under the terms of the settlement agreement, which requires both parties to concur in writing to any modification. The question is whether it, or something like it, would be enough to convince the reluctant senators to get in line.
The Senate’s summer recess begins next week, so the failure to clear Blanche out of committee this week makes it difficult to get committee clearance and a floor vote in the limited time remaining — difficult, but not impossible if Cornyn and Tillis can be persuaded to stand down in a day or three. (Note: They’ve been under heavy pressure to fold but haven’t; Trump’s leverage over them is minimal because they are not seeking reelection . . . largely due to opposition by Trump.)
If Blanche is not confirmed before the recess, it will be harder to get him confirmed afterwards. By then, the campaign sprint to the midterm elections will be on, making the vote harder for Republicans given the Blanche-led DOJ’s key role in the president’s lawfare abuses, which Democrats plan to spotlight in the campaign. The midterms could well cost Republicans control of the Senate, and Blanche is already the de facto AG — he is the acting AG and the Senate-confirmed deputy AG. Given that, Republicans will wonder why they need this hot potato at this moment . . . even though Blanche is anxious to shed “acting” from his title and Trump has turned the nomination into a contest of wills.