After weeks of tense back-and-forth negotiations and the arm-twisting of two reluctant GOP senators, the nomination of Trump’s former personal attorney Todd Blanche has cleared the Judiciary Committee and will now head to a full vote in the Senate.
The vote Tuesday was along party lines, with all 10 Democrats saying “nay” while all 12 Republicans — including former holdout Sens. Thom Tillis of North Carolina and John Cornyn of Texas, both lame ducks after losing in the primaries of their reelection efforts — voting “aye.”
BREAKING: NOMINATION OF @DAGTodd MOVES FORWARD
— Catherine Herridge (@C__Herridge) August 4, 2026
PARTY LINE VOTE @SenJudiciaryGOP - 12@JudiciaryDems -10
NOW ADVANCES TO FULL SENATE DEBATE AND CONFIRMATION VOTE.
WOULD NEED AGREEMENT TO ACCELERATE BEFORE RECESS.
Tillis and Cornyn had refused to back Blanche because they were concerned over a proposed $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization fund” that would have aided victims of former President Joe Biden’s Department of Justice, which President Trump has said wrongly went after numerous conservatives and perceived opponents for political retribution. Blanche was eventually able to assure the pair that the fund was DOA and would not proceed:
Blanche’s team and Cornyn’s chief legal counsel went through contentious negotiations for several days, going back and forth several times to come up with specific language that Blanche could use confirm that the deal was indeed dead. Late Sunday night, Blanche announced a resolution.
Blanche shared two documents in a post on X, one a signed memo stating that the Justice Department was formally rescinding the order that established anti-weaponization fund, and a second, unsigned statement clarifying the terms of the IRS protections. Tillis and Cornyn quickly affirmed their approval of the deal.
.@JohnCornyn: They've been consistent about their assertion on behalf of the USA that the weaponization fund is dead...Given this agreement with Mr. Blanche, I expect the Department to live up to this in future litigation and I will vote to advance him out of the committee today. pic.twitter.com/kNXCEuScNB
— CSPAN (@cspan) August 4, 2026
MORE: Todd Blanche Just Nuked John Cornyn's Favorite Excuse for Blocking Him
Trump Is About to Have His Cake and Eat It, Too, Thanks to John Cornyn and Thom Tillis
It’s a major win for Trump, who aims to prioritize investigating voter fraud, law and order issues, and illegal immigration enforcement. He sees the hard-nosed Blanche as the right man to tackle those issues. Blanche has been acting AG since April:
Blanche was thrust into the job after Pam Bondi, the former attorney general, bungled the handling of the Epstein files and ignited a political firestorm that continues to cause problems for Trump and the Justice Department. Trump eventually fired Bondi after months of discussing her failure to aggressively bring cases against his personal and political foes.
In just over 100 days as Acting Attorney General, Todd Blanche has put up win after win for the American people.
— Senator Eric Schmitt (@SenEricSchmitt) August 4, 2026
He will be an outstanding Attorney General and I look forward to his leadership at DOJ and Making America Safe Again. pic.twitter.com/A2p5ZApZfH
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) indicated he will schedule the full Senate vote soon, as he wants it to happen by week's end before lawmakers take off for an extended August recess. RedState will keep you updated.
Editor’s Note: The American people overwhelmingly support President Trump’s law and order agenda.
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