President Donald Trump said July 30, 2026 that he is willing to temporarily withdraw Todd Blanche's nomination for attorney general and renominate him after Senators John Cornyn and Thom Tillis leave office, escalating a Senate confirmation fight that has stalled over a contested Justice Department settlement tied to Trump's tax returns.

In a social media post, Trump wrote: "I have no objection to temporarily withdrawing Todd's name, if they do not do the right thing, and putting him back after Cornyn and Tillis are out of office." Trump said he would keep Blanche on as acting attorney general in the interim and renominate him later.

Trump targeted the two Republican senators directly in the post, writing that both Cornyn and Tillis's "political careers have been ended by my action." Both senators are leaving Congress in January 2027. Tillis, of North Carolina, announced his retirement in 2025 after publicly clashing with Trump over his tax-and-spending bill. Cornyn, of Texas, lost his 2026 primary to a Trump-backed challenger. (NPR)

Cornyn responded on X: "POTUS is mistaken if he believes concerns about the provisions in his tax lawsuit settlement are limited to me and Senator Tillis." The pushback signals that the opposition to Blanche's confirmation may extend beyond the two senators Trump singled out.

The dispute centers on the Justice Department's settlement ending Trump's IRS lawsuit over his leaked tax returns. Cornyn and Tillis opposed Blanche's nomination over the settlement's terms, which included creation of a nearly $1.8 billion anti-weaponization fund to compensate people who said they were unfairly targeted by the government. The settlement also included a sweeping immunity deal shielding Trump, his family, and businesses from audits of past tax returns. (NPR)

The two senators sought written guarantees from DOJ about the scope of the tax immunity deal. DOJ would not provide them. Blanche told the committee the anti-weaponization fund is not moving forward. (NPR)

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, postponed the planned vote on Blanche late on July 29, 2026, one day before Trump's social media post. The delay came after what had appeared to be momentum toward confirmation. As of July 14, 2026, Republican insiders described Blanche as on a "glide path" for confirmation and expected a floor vote before the August recess. (Reuters)

Blanche, Trump's former personal lawyer, was serving as acting attorney general when Trump announced on June 3, 2026 that he would nominate him to permanently lead the Justice Department. Trump formally submitted the nomination to the Senate on June 8. (Reuters)

At his July 15 confirmation hearing, Blanche faced tense bipartisan questioning and told the Senate panel he was not a "yes man." (Reuters) The New York City Bar Association's Rule of Law Task Force issued a report opposing the nomination on July 13. The White House countered the following day with a release highlighting support from law enforcement leaders. (NYC Bar; White House)

The trajectory from "glide path" to postponed vote to a presidential threat to pull the nomination spans roughly two weeks. Trump's proposed workaround, keeping Blanche as acting attorney general while withdrawing and later resubmitting his nomination, would not require Senate action for Blanche to remain in his current role. But it would leave the Justice Department without a Senate-confirmed leader for an indefinite period, depending on when Cornyn and Tillis depart and whether the Senate landscape after their exits proves more favorable.

Cornyn's response, asserting that the concerns extend beyond two senators, raises the question of whether the opposition is broad enough to sustain a blockade even after both depart. With a Senate Judiciary Committee vote already postponed and the August recess approaching, the timeline for any resolution has narrowed considerably.