Trump AG pick Blanche stalled as key Republicans refuse to budge

By Fox News · Fox News

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche’s chances of confirmation were derailed Wednesday, less than 24 hours before a pivotal vote in the Senate. It’s another chapter in the troubled saga that has followed Blanche since he was tapped to replace former Attorney General Pam Bondi and one that boils down to issues among Blanche, the Department of Justice (DOJ) and two key Republicans who control his fate in the Senate Judiciary Committee. Senators John Cornyn, R-Texas, and Thom Tillis, R-N.C., are demanding that the DOJ provide explicit, written proposals to modify the settlement deal reached between the IRS and President Donald Trump and his family earlier this year. TRUMP AG PICK TODD BLANCHE FACES SENATE TEST IN FIRST MAJOR CONFIRMATION FIGHT SINCE GRAHAM’S DEATH Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., had hoped a deal could be struck and allow for the confirmation to move forward, eying next week as the major floor vote to formally confirm Blanche as Bondi's replacement. "I think that that's an issue between, right now, the White House and Senators Cornyn and Tillis," Thune said. "But, yeah, I would encourage them to sit down, which I think they are, and try to come to a resolution there so that the markup can continue tomorrow, and we can get Todd Blanche ready for the floor." The DOJ had until 4 p.m. Wednesday to get the lawmakers what they wanted, but the agency fell short, and Blanche’s bumpy carriage ride to confirmation turned into a pumpkin. Without a guarantee that Cornyn or Tillis would vote to confirm Blanche, Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, opted to postpone the hearing until a later date. Their targets are the now-defunct, nearly $2 billion anti-weaponization fund and the president’s audit immunity. Republicans and Democrats alike railed against the fund, particularly over concerns that the funding would go to people involved in the Jan. 6, 2021, riots on Capitol Hill. Trump's audit immunity has similarly ruffled feathers. Bla…