President Donald Trump said July 30, 2026 that he is willing to temporarily withdraw Todd Blanche's nomination for attorney general and try again after two Republican senators who oppose the pick leave office.

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 meantime 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." That pushback suggests opposition to Blanche may extend beyond the two senators Trump named.

The fight centers on a Justice Department settlement that ended Trump's lawsuit over his leaked tax returns. The settlement included creation of a nearly $1.8 billion fund to compensate people who said they were unfairly targeted by the government. It also included a broad immunity deal shielding Trump, his family, and businesses from audits of past tax returns. (NPR)

The two senators wanted written guarantees from the Justice Department about how far the tax immunity deal would reach. The department would not provide them. Blanche told the committee the compensation 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 full Senate 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 questioning from both parties 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 shift from a smooth path to confirmation, to a postponed vote, to a presidential threat to pull the nomination spans roughly two weeks. Trump's proposed workaround would keep Blanche as acting attorney general while withdrawing and later resubmitting his nomination. That would not require Senate action for Blanche to stay in his current role. But it would leave the Justice Department without a Senate-confirmed leader for an open-ended 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 committee vote already postponed and the August recess approaching, the timeline for any resolution has narrowed considerably.