Trump Threatens to Pull His Own Attorney General Pick Until Two GOP Senators Are Gone

President Trump said Thursday, July 30, 2026, he has “no objection to temporarily withdrawing” Todd Blanche’s nomination for attorney general “if they do not do the right thing, and putting him back after Cornyn and Tillis are out of office,” in a Truth Social post aimed at Sens. John Cornyn of Texas and Thom Tillis of North Carolina. Both senators, who are not seeking reelection, have withheld their support over a Justice Department settlement that ended Trump’s lawsuit against the IRS over his leaked tax returns. Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, canceled a scheduled vote on Blanche’s nomination after a full day of negotiations failed to satisfy the pair [1].

At issue is the settlement’s roughly $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization fund,” intended to compensate people Trump allies say were victims of prosecutorial overreach, including January 6 defendants, plus provisions shielding Trump and his family from future IRS audits. Cornyn said talks had appeared close: “I thought we were pretty close to landing the plane last night, but this morning there’s been some more complications.” Blanche has separately told Senate Judiciary ranking member Dick Durbin, D-Ill., that creating the fund was a “mistake,” though he stopped short of committing in writing to killing it [2]. Durbin has said Blanche “has used the Department as a shield to protect the President and his MAGA allies and as a sword to attack his political opponents” [3].

Why It Sucks:

Trump Administration & Loyalists

• His own party is blocking his AG pick. Trump is forced to publicly threaten two Republican senators just to move his attorney general nominee out of committee, a humiliating display of intra-party leverage problems for a sitting president [1].
• Retiring senators have nothing to lose. Because Cornyn and Tillis aren’t seeking reelection, the White House has little traditional leverage over them, forcing Trump into an unusual public threat to simply wait them out [1].
• A qualified nominee is stuck in limbo. Administration allies argue Blanche is being held hostage over a side dispute about a settlement fund rather than his fitness to serve as attorney general [2].

Fiscal-Guardrail Republicans (Cornyn & Tillis)

• A $1.8 billion fund with no guardrails. Cornyn and Tillis say they’ve asked for weeks for written DOJ guarantees narrowing the anti-weaponization fund and haven’t gotten them, and won’t advance the nomination on a handshake [1].
• Trump is trying to run out the clock on them. Both senators are being publicly told by the president he’ll simply wait for them to leave office and reinstall his nominee, which they see as proof he has no intention of honoring their concerns now [1].
• Even Blanche admits it was a mistake. Cornyn’s camp points to Blanche’s own private acknowledgment to Durbin that the fund was an error as validation that their holdout is substantive, not obstructionist [2].

Senate Democrats

• DOJ is being used as a political weapon. Durbin argues Blanche’s tenure shows he’ll “continue to serve the interests of Donald Trump, not the American people,” regardless of what happens with the settlement fund fight [3].
• A $1.8 billion slush fund for allies. Democrats characterize the anti-weaponization fund as a vehicle to compensate January 6 defendants and Trump allies, calling it improper regardless of whether Republicans eventually water it down [2].
• The infighting proves their point. Democrats see the GOP standoff itself as confirmation that the settlement was indefensible even to Trump’s own party, strengthening the case against confirming Blanche at all [3].

Sources & Citations:

[1] Forbes: Trump Floats Pulling Todd Blanche’s Nomination Until Cornyn And Tillis Leave Senate
[2] Time: Trump Says He Has ‘No Objection’ to Withdrawing Todd Blanche’s Nomination
[3] The Hill: Todd Blanche admits anti-weaponization fund mistake, Durbin says