Todd Blanche nomination on edge over Trump, IRS settlement

The nomination of Todd Blanche for attorney general was at risk on Wednesday as a key Republican senator, for the second time, called off a meeting with Blanche that was meant to address concerns about the controversial settlement of President Donald Trump‘s lawsuit against the IRS.

Sen. John Cornyn of Texas said he canceled the sit-down with the acting Attorney General Blanche because the Department of Justice has not met his demands to clarify provisions of the settlement that shield Trump and others from IRS audits for tax returns filed before the settlement.

Cornyn, whose vote Blanche needs for his nomination to advance out of the Senate Judiciary Committee, told reporters “beats me” when asked why the DOJ has not satisfied his concerns.

“Maybe they think I’m just going to give up or, you know, go along,” Cornyn said, MS NOW reported. “But they’re mistaken.”

Cornyn also said he believed another Republican on the Judiciary Committee, Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina, “is pretty much on the same page as I am.”

“So they better get real, and there’s not much time left,” Cornyn said.

Tillis, like Cornyn, has expressed concerns about another provision in the settlement, the creation of a $1.8 billion fund by the DOJ to compensate people who were purportedly victims of prosecutorial overreach by the department. Blanche said he cancelled that fund after members of Congress harshly criticized it, but Tillis, Cornyn and others have asked for a written guarantee that the fund cannot be revived.

Blanche’s nomination, to get a vote by the full Senate, needs to be advanced by a majority of the Judiciary Committee, which is set to vote Thursday. The committee has 12 Republican members and 10 Democrats. Every Democrat is expected to vote against Blanche.

If Cornyn or Tillis were to vote against Blanche, it would prevent his nomination from moving to the full Senate.

Cornyn said Judiciary Committee Chairman Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, told him he needed to know by 4 p.m. ET Wednesday whether the panel’s vote on Blanche’s nomination could proceed as planned Thursday.

“So, we still got a little time, and hopefully they now recognize the seriousness of this,” Cornyn said.

Asked if he would vote “no” on advancing Blanche’s nomination to the full Senate, Cornyn replied, “Well, I’m not prepared to vote ‘yes.’ Let me put it that way.”

The settlement that Cornyn wants amended resolved a lawsuit Trump filed against the IRS over the illegal leaking of his tax records by…