For about twenty-four hours, it looked like Todd Blanche’s path to becoming Attorney General might actually be blocked. The acting AG was trying to shed the title of “acting,” hoping for full confirmation. But that moment of hesitation evaporated.
Two key Republican senators, John Cornyn and Thom Tillis, flipped their votes.
They had paused Blanche’s nomination over two glaring issues. One: an $1.8 billion slush fund he helped set up at the Justice Department. Two: a bizarre collusive deal with the IRS that looked suspiciously designed to shield Donald Trump and his family from tax audits. By Monday, those objections were largely swept aside. Cornyn and Tillis announced they would no longer block the process.
What Did Blanche Give Up?
The concessions were minor. Cornyn and Tillis both leave office in January. They didn’t have much political leverage anyway, and Blanche knew it.
The core demand from Cornyn was a written order terminating the “Anti-Weaponization Fund.” This fund, created by a May 18 executive order, promised to pay out millions to people claiming they were targets of political persecution. The list of potential recipients included participants in the January 6 Capitol attack. Blanche tweeted a new document on Sunday night rescinding that specific May order.
Tillis focused on the IRS settlement. He wanted the language narrowed. Blanche’s DOJ responded with a binding order stating the settlement only applied to the original plaintiffs—Trump, his two oldest sons, and The Trump Organization. It doesn’t apply to other parties or agencies not named in that specific lawsuit.
The Tax Immunity Loophole Remains
Here is the rub. Blanche walked back the slush fund order. He did not walk back the part of the deal that grants broad immunity from tax investigations.
Let’s look at the settlement details again. Trump’s company sued the IRS in early 2024, claiming the agency failed to stop leaks of private tax documents. Trump originally demanded $10 billion. The settlement they reached in May was cheaper but contained a “FOREVER BARRED” clause. It claimed the IRS is barred from pursuing claims that “have been or could have asserted by Plaintiffs.”
That is open-ended. Vague. Terrifying, actually.
Cornyn and Tillis accepted the explanation that this immunity stops at the Trump entity. But Senator Adam Schiff, a Democrat from California, saw it differently. Schiff tweeted that the new order doesn’t stop payouts to insurrectionists later. And it leaves in place a deal that could help Trump avoid taxes on the $2.3 million he reportedly made last year.
The senators got a written clarification. They got a promise that the slush fund isn’t active right now. But the structural changes to the Justice Department remain intact.
The Real Weaponization
Cornyn and Tillis objected to only a sliver of what Blanche has done. They didn’t care much about Blanche’s broader project: turning the DOJ into a weapon against Trump’s enemies.
As Deputy AG and now acting AG, Blanche has overseen prosecutions that seem politically motivated. Consider Newark Mayor Ras Baraka. Federal prosecutors arrested Baraka. A federal magistrate judge later scolded the DOJ, accusing them of using “the immense power of the government to pursue weak or to make examples.” Video evidence suggested Blanche personally instructed officers to make the arrest.
Blanche’s team also brought charges against former FBI Director James Comey. They targeted New York Attorney General Letitia James.
Tillis did pressure Blanche once, successfully pushing for the dropping of an investigation into former Fed Chair Jerome Powell. But that was it. The broader crusade? Untouched.
Why It Doesn’t Matter What the Senators Say
The two senators didn’t have a strong hand. Blanche is currently Senate-confirmed as Deputy Attorney General. That means he can stay in the top job indefinitely, in an acting capacity, as long as Trump holds the presidency.
When negotiations stalled late last week, Trump didn’t back down. He threatened to keep Blanche as Acting AG and push to get an “Anti-Weaponization Bill” passed into law anyway. The threat was implicit: you can stall the nomination, but you can’t stop the policy.
Cornyn and Tillis extracted a tiny victory. Blanche confirmed there is “no Fund” today. But the immunity for Trump regarding tax audits remains. The prosecutions of political opponents continue. The guardrails are gone.
Any meaningful checks on a weaponized Justice Department effectively ceased to exist when Blanche was confirmed by the margin of 48 to 45, with Cornyn and Tillis voting yes.
The Aftermath
Blanche’s concessions were thin gruel. A statement saying the fund isn’t active right now is not the same as abolishing it. A narrow reading of a tax settlement is not the same as rejecting the premise of the settlement itself.
Cornyn and Tillis gave Trump a scare for a week. They never put up real resistance. Blanche looks likely to be fully confirmed. And the efforts to transform the department into a revenge-seeking machine? Those go on.
The question now isn’t whether Blanche will have the power to act. He already has it. The question is who will be left standing when he decides who matters and who doesn’t.
Blanche’s new order doesn’t prevent payouts to violent insurrectionists. And it leaves in place tax-immunity deals that could benefit Trump significantly.
The Senate Judiciary Committee is set to vote. The Republican majority is tight. Cornyn and Tillis have shifted. The path is clear. The real resistance failed before it really started.
