The Senate Judiciary Committee has voted to advance Todd Blanche, President Donald Trump's nominee for attorney general, to the full Senate for a confirmation vote. The 12-10 party-line vote on Tuesday followed weeks of negotiations that nearly derailed his path.
The advancement hinged on an agreement between the Trump administration and outgoing Republican Senators John Cornyn and Thom Tillis. They had conditioned their support on a written commitment from the Department of Justice (DOJ) to limit the scope of a sweeping IRS audit settlement concerning Trump and his family, and to end a controversial "anti-weaponization" fund. This fund was intended to allocate $1.8 billion to victims of alleged "lawfare" under previous administrations.
Despite the committee's decision, sharp divisions remain among lawmakers regarding the adequacy of the DOJ's concessions. Senator Dick Durbin, the top Democrat on the panel, expressed concern that the "anti-weaponization" fund could potentially be revived shortly after Blanche's confirmation.
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, a Republican, acknowledged that he and other committee members shared reservations about the "anti-weaponization" fund and the IRS settlement, describing both as "common sense" issues. Grassley remarked that the resolution of these matters took an unnecessarily long time, stating, "I don't have any way of knowing everybody that was involved in it, but it's just a crime that it took so long to work out."