Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) pulled a scheduled committee vote on acting Attorney General Todd Blanche's nomination late Wednesday after two Republicans threatened to oppose the nomination over a controversial Justice Department settlement.
The decision followed a day of increasingly tense negotiations between the Justice Department and Sens. John Cornyn (R-Texas) and Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), who have demanded written assurances that the administration has permanently abandoned a proposed $1.776 billion compensation fund tied to President Donald Trump's lawsuit over the disclosure of his IRS records.
Without their support, Blanche's nomination risked stalling in committee.
"Chairman Grassley works to set President Trump’s nominees up for success in committee, not failure. Senators Cornyn and Tillis want written assurances from the Department of Justice regarding the Trump-IRS settlement," a Grassley spokesperson said in a statement.
The spokesperson added that "Tomorrow's markup is postponed as work continues to secure sufficient support in committee to favorably report Attorney General-nominee Todd Blanche, who is highly qualified for the job."
The dispute centers on a settlement provision that would have created what critics dubbed an "anti-weaponization" fund. The proposed $1.776 billion pool was intended to compensate people who claimed they had been harmed by actions of the federal government, but it quickly drew criticism from Republicans and Democrats alike. Some lawmakers objected to the possibility that Jan. 6 defendants could benefit from the fund.
Cornyn has spent months pressing the Justice Department to formally eliminate the proposal, saying public statements from department officials are not enough.
As negotiations dragged into Wednesday evening, the Texas Republican accused DOJ officials of refusing to engage.
"They've simply refused to cooperate," Cornyn told reporters.
Earlier in the day, he said his office had already given the department the exact language needed to resolve the dispute.
"We actually sent them a red line strikeout of what we need, and they just need to make a decision. And if they do, then we'll proceed with the markup tomorrow," Cornyn said.
His frustration only grew as the day wore on.
"Beats me. Maybe they think I'm just going to give up or, you know, go along, but they're mistaken," Cornyn said when asked why the matter remained unresolved.
Later, he publicly urged the department to act quickly.
"Tell them they have one hour and 50 minutes to get me what I asked for," he said.
Tillis, meanwhile, warned that moving ahead without an agreement could leave Republicans without the votes needed to advance Blanche.
"If there's pressure on doing the markup, then I don't want the chairman to have a failed markup. Then I would just not be there to make quorum, so he wouldn't be confronted with that eventuality," Tillis said.
Asked whether the committee would ultimately meet Thursday, Tillis replied, "I'd say it's a coin toss. I mean, we're running out of time."
Blanche spent Wednesday afternoon meeting with senators as the administration worked to salvage the nomination by negotiating language that would formally close the door on the proposed fund.
During his confirmation hearing, Tillis left little doubt about where he stood, saying, "I want to stick a fork in this turkey of a" $1.776 billion fund.
Although Blanche has publicly stated the Justice Department is "not moving forward with the fund. Period," Cornyn and Tillis have continued to insist that commitment be put in writing before they will support his nomination.
The debate over the settlement has intensified since a federal judge overseeing the Trump-IRS litigation criticized the agreement earlier this month, concluding that the parties were never truly adverse and writing that Trump "brought to manipulate the judicial process."
The issue resurfaced Wednesday as The New York Times reported that the Justice Department had reached a $1 million settlement agreement with anti-abortion activist Paul Vaughn, adding to scrutiny over the department's recent settlements.
