Sens. John Cornyn, R-Texas, and Thom Tillis, R-North Carolina, have both laid out issues they want the DOJ to address before fully throwing their support behind Blanche.
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Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche’s nomination to the top job is in jeopardy after two key Republican senators expressed misgivings about the status of the tax immunity settlement the Justice Department helped reach between President Donald Trump and the IRS.
The Senate Judiciary Committee, which Republicans lead by a 12-10 margin, is scheduled to vote July 30 on whether to advance Blanche’s nomination to a vote before the full Senate. But at least two Republicans on the committee, Texas Sen. John Cornyn and North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis, have expressed misgivings about voting “yes” without concessions from Blanche’s Justice Department.
Cornyn has said he wants the DOJ to modify the deal in writing to clarify that it will only benefit Trump, his two oldest sons, and the Trump Organization, will only shield them from audits for past tax years and it won’t protect them from being investigated by federal agencies outside of the IRS and Treasury Department.
“I don’t know whether it’s the staff of the DOJ, or who it is, but they simply – they know what they need to do, but they simply refuse to do it,” Cornyn told reporters July 29.
A DOJ official told USA TODAY the department provided Cornyn’s staff with a written proposal July 28, after “ongoing discussion” with the Senate Judiciary Committee and Cornyn’s office.
“We look forward to further discussion around any outstanding concerns,” the official said. The official didn’t elaborate on the terms the department was offering.
Tillis’ office didn’t immediately respond to USA TODAY’s request for comment, but Cornyn said he believes Tillis has similar concerns.
“I think Senator Tillis is pretty much on the same page that I am, so they better get real, and there’s not much time left,” he said.
Tillis has previously said he wants to see changes to the settlement agreement, according to media reports.
Trump nominated Blanche, his former personal defense lawyer, to head the Justice Department in June. Blanche began serving in the acting role in April, after Trump fired then-Attorney General Pam Bondi.
Blanche has overseen the department’s efforts to settle a lawsuit with Trump, his two oldest sons and his business by offering them immunity from any past tax liability and by creating an “anti-weaponization” fund that could have paid taxpayer dollars to Trump supporters who committed crimes during the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol.
An addition to the settlement’s terms that Blanche signed says the U.S. government is permanently barred from pursuing any claims against the Trumps and the Trump Organization related to issues pending before the IRS “or other agencies or departments,” including the Trumps’ prior tax returns.
The deal sparked widespread ethics concerns. Multiple government watchdogs argued it was inappropriate for DOJ lawyers, who are arguably under the president’s control, to make a deal with the president’s personal lawyers without a judge approving the deal. The Trumps argued in their lawsuit that the IRS owed them $10 billion for failing to prevent a contractor from leaking their tax information.
In the face of bipartisan backlash, Blanche said the DOJ would not move forward with the fund, which a federal judge has also blocked.
The tax portion of the settlement could be a huge financial boon to the president. The New York Times reported in 2020 that Trump was in a decade-long spat with the IRS over an audit of an alleged $72.9 million tax refund. Losing that battle could cost the president more than $100 million, according to the Times.
On July 13, Florida federal Judge Kathleen M. Williams ruled the Trump lawsuit was an improper attempt to legitimize giving the Trumps tax benefits and setting up the “anti-weaponization” fund. She blocked the Trumps from using or referring to the deal in any official proceedings, but it’s unclear exactly how that order constrains the DOJ and IRS’s private dealings with the president.
Cornyn said July 29 that there was still “plenty of time” for the DOJ to address his concerns before the 4 p.m. Eastern deadline that day to let Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley know whether he needed to cancel the scheduled committee vote on July 30.
“Maybe they think I’m just going to give up or go along, but they’re mistaken,” Cornyn said.
Cornyn and Tillis are both slated to leave the Senate in January, at the end of their terms. Tillis previously held out on whether to support Blanche over concerns he had failed to meet with people who said they were sexually abused by convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Cornyn also said he thought “it would be good” for Blanche to do that. Blanche subsequently met with those individuals.