Todd Blanche AG nomination advances to full Senate vote

The Senate judiciary committee voted along party lines on Tuesday to advance Todd Blanche's nomination for attorney general, sending it to the full Senate after Blanche confirmed in writing that a controversial $1.8bn fund for Trump allies had been killed. The vote came amid intense Democratic opposition and rising Republican concerns over Blanche's fitness to lead the Department of Justice.

The $1.8bn 'slush fund' controversy

At the heart of the confirmation battle was the so-called 'anti-weaponization' fund, a roughly $1.8bn pool of money created in May as part of a settlement ending President Trump's lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service. That lawsuit followed the leak of Trump's confidential tax records by a former IRS contractor, who has been in prison since 2024. Trump had defended the fund as compensation for people he claimed were unfairly targeted by politically driven investigations, calling it a way to counter 'weaponized' government agencies.

Critics, however, decried the fund as a taxpayer-financed payout to Trump loyalists, including some defendants from the January 6 Capitol riot. To defuse a Republican rebellion over his nomination, Blanche signed an order scrapping the fund just days before the committee vote, a move that secured the support of two key Republican senators who had been blocking his path.

Republican rebellion quelled

Senators John Cornyn of Texas and Thom Tillis of North Carolina, both Republicans on the judiciary committee and both critics of Trump, had demanded firm guarantees that the fund would be shelved for good. Their support was essential to Blanche's confirmation advancing. On Tuesday, both said their concerns had been satisfied and voted to advance the nomination.

Tillis, who called the fund a 'payout pot for punks' and said it insulted police officers and others who defended the Capitol on January 6, stated, 'It's done. It's been rescinded, and I am satisfied.' Cornyn echoed that view, signaling he would support Blanche in the full Senate vote.

But even as Tillis voted in favor, he criticized the Department of Justice's politicization under Blanche, specifically pointing to the prosecution of former FBI director James Comey over a seashell photo post. 'Some bonehead in North Carolina thinks that's a crime,' Tillis said. 'Well, they better damn sure have information to back it up because if all it is is a picture, that person should lose his job.'

Democratic opposition and a tainted record

All Democrats on the committee used the opportunity to attack Blanche, calling him unfit for a role that is meant to operate independently of the White House. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island went so far as to call Blanche 'probably the most discreditable person ever to seek the office of Attorney General of the United States.'

Democrats highlighted Blanche's work defending the controversial fund, as well as his handling of files related to Jeffrey Epstein, his involvement in the murders of Alex Pretti and Renee Good, and his role in prosecuting protesters and Trump's political rivals. These issues, they argued, demonstrated that Blanche would follow Trump's bidding rather than uphold the rule of law.

What happens next

Blanche's nomination now moves to the full Senate, where it is expected to face intense skepticism and likely a near-unanimous Democratic opposition. With Republicans holding a narrow majority, the outcome will hinge on whether other GOP senators share Cornyn and Tillis's concerns or whether they accept Blanche's promises.

Even with the slush fund dead, questions about Blanche's independence remain. The committee vote exposes deep fractures within both parties over the role of the Justice Department, and Blanche's confirmation — if successful — would put a Trump loyalist at the helm of an agency that has been at the center of political storms for years. The coming weeks will test whether the Senate's institutional guardrails can hold against the pressure of a president demanding unwavering loyalty.