Cornyn denies 'deal' with Trump administration over Todd Blanche's AG nomination
WASHINGTON, DC: Senator John Cornyn (R-Texas), through an X post on Tuesday, July 28, threw Todd Blanche’s nomination into doubt by saying that there has not been any deal between him and the Trump administration to make him vote in favour of Blanche’s nomination as Attorney General.
Fake news alert: there is no “deal” on Blanche nom. They know what they have to do.
— Senator John Cornyn (@JohnCornyn) July 28, 2026
Trump’s former attorney, Todd Blanche, has been serving as an acting Attorney General following the ousting of Pam Bondi and is poised to become the Attorney General with his nomination pending approval.
Cornyn says no deal to favour Blanche’s nomination
Senator John Cornyn said that no deal has been made to pave the way for him to vote for Todd Blanche’s nomination to serve as attorney general, which could result in Blanche getting stuck in the Senate Judiciary Committee.
“Fake news alert: there is no ‘deal’ on Blanche nom. They know what they have to do,” Cornyn posted on social platform X.
Blanche’s nomination is scheduled for a vote before the Judiciary Committee on Thursday, July 30.
Cornyn, a senior member of the Judiciary Committee, and Sen Thom Tillis (NC), a fellow Republican on the panel, have pushed the Department of Justice to rework the negotiation with President Trump to make it clear that the Justice Department will not establish an $1.8 billion anti-weaponization fund to compensate those who were allegedly targeted by the Biden administration.
Blanche has repeatedly told the Senator the anti-weaponization fund that was to be formed in exchange for Trump revoking his $10 billion lawsuit against the IRS is dead and won’t be coming back.
However, Cornyn has argued that Blanche has acknowledged that the proposed fund remains on paper as part of the settlement with Trump.
Cornyn and Tillis want revision in the settlement conditions
Cornyn and Tillis are urging the Trump administration and the Justice Department to rewrite the settlement to ensure the $1.8 billion fund can never be revived. They argue that changing the agreement would be a simpler solution than having Congress pass a law permanently blocking the creation of the fund for conservative allies.
"We just need for the documents to conform to what his testimony was at the hearing, where he said the weaponization fund is dead, he said the immunity from future audits does not extend to people beyond the parties to the lawsuit, and he said it wasn’t intended to release further actions by other agencies other than the IRS,” Cornyn told reporters of the clarifications he wants.
