President Donald Trump on Thursday, July 30th, 2026, threatened to withdraw Todd Blanche’s nomination for attorney general until two Republican senators who have expressed concerns about Blanche leave office in January. Trump stated on Truth Social, “I have no objection to temporarily withdrawing Todd’s name, if they do not do the right thing, and putting him back after Cornyn and Tillis are out of office.”

The Senate Judiciary Committee postponed a vote to advance Blanche’s nomination due to objections from Sens. John Cornyn of Texas and Thom Tillis of North Carolina. A single Republican "no" vote would block the nomination from advancing. The senators' hesitancy stems from concerns about Trump’s settlement with the Internal Revenue Service related to the leak of his tax returns.

Responding to Trump’s statement, Cornyn said on X that the president “is mistaken if he believes concerns about the provisions in his tax lawsuit settlement are limited to me and Senator Tillis.” He added that withdrawing the nomination now would provide journalists and Democrats “gold to mine between now and the election.” Cornyn also noted Trump could “roll the dice” on the Senate confirmation process once he and Cornyn are out of office but emphasized, “it’s all on him.”

Senator Tillis emphasized the importance of addressing the "1776 fund," stating, “What I’m focused on is the main thing, and the main thing is the 1776 fund needs to go away, or they’re going to hang this yoke around our candidates’ necks, and rightly so.”

A source told NBC News that a meeting at the National Republican Senatorial Committee lasted over 45 minutes and ended only because Cornyn had to catch a flight back to Texas. Inside the White House, a senior administration official accused Cornyn of moving the goalposts, canceling meetings, and refusing to communicate with the department regarding the nomination process.

Sources