Interim Attorney General Todd Blanche faces a possible Republican roadblock in his confirmation to permanently lead the Department of Justice. Senator John Cornyn of Texas told reporters on July 29, 2026, "I'm not prepared to vote yes." The declaration came one day before a Senate Judiciary Committee vote scheduled for Thursday on whether to move Blanche's nomination forward, and after Cornyn said on July 28 that the committee vote could be postponed Politico.

All Republicans on the Judiciary Committee would need to support Blanche for the nomination to advance to the full Senate. The arithmetic leaves no margin for error: a single GOP defection in committee stalls the nomination outright. CNN reported on July 21 that Cornyn and Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina were the two potential Republican obstacles CNN. Roll Call reported on July 16 that Tillis had set a new condition for his vote Roll Call, while two Republican committee members told CNBC the same day they remained undecided CNBC.

Cornyn's reservations center on Blanche's stewardship of the Justice Department, which Blanche has led in an acting capacity since April. The senator specifically questioned a settlement Blanche brokered in May 2026 in response to a lawsuit Donald Trump filed against the IRS. Under the settlement, Trump and his family would be shielded from future IRS audits. The deal also created an "anti-weaponisation fund" allowing individuals deemed to have faced political persecution to seek financial compensation. Blanche backed away from the fund amid bipartisan backlash; critics described it as a slush fund designed to benefit the president's allies Al Jazeera.

A federal judge compounded the problem in early July 2026 by ruling the IRS settlement illegal, accusing Blanche of double-dealing — working on behalf of both the federal government and Trump as a private citizen simultaneously. During his confirmation hearing, Blanche assured lawmakers the anti-weaponisation fund was dead. Cornyn, however, said he was still awaiting written guarantees: "I have not seen a single piece of writing that is responsive to what I've requested."

The political backdrop adds another layer of friction. Trump endorsed Cornyn's primary opponent, former Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, in May 2026. Paxton won the Republican nomination and will face Democrat James Talarico in November's midterm. Cornyn will leave the Senate at the end of his term in January after more than two decades of service. At an Oval Office news conference on July 29, Trump said "Todd Blanche is outstanding" and suggested Cornyn's opposition might stem from the endorsement decision.

Blanche was nominated as the 88th Attorney General of the United States on June 8, 2026, after formally receiving the nomination from Trump Senate Judiciary Committee. The Judiciary Committee held two days of confirmation hearings on July 15 and 16, with Chairman Chuck Grassley presiding. Blanche previously served as deputy attorney general and, before joining Trump's second term, worked as the president's personal criminal defense lawyer — a role Politico noted made him the first acting attorney general in modern history to have served as the sitting president's criminal defense counsel Politico.

During the July 15 hearing, Blanche told the committee, "I'm not a yes man" Reuters. During his February 2025 confirmation hearing for deputy attorney general, Blanche had dodged questions from lawmakers about recusals (legal commitments to step aside from cases where impartiality might reasonably be questioned) and the inquiry into former Special Counsel Jack Smith Reuters. Under his watch at DOJ, the department chose to file a second indictment against former FBI Director James Comey.

Democratic opposition is firm. Senator Dick Durbin entered a statement into the Congressional Record opposing the nomination, citing his vote against Blanche's confirmation as deputy attorney general a year earlier. Senator Alex Padilla publicly stated he would vote no Padilla, Facebook.

The broader context here is a confirmation fight in which the binding constraint is not Democratic resistance but Republican defection. With committee Republicans holding all the leverage, the nomination's fate hinges on whether Blanche can produce the written commitments Cornyn demands and whether Tillis's condition can be met before the committee reconvenes. Blanche was also scheduled to meet with Epstein survivors during his confirmation process, as CNBC reported on July 16, a signal of the breadth of issues the nominee must navigate before a vote.

For an acting attorney general who has already drawn a federal judicial ruling of illegal conduct in a settlement he personally brokered, the path to confirmation is narrow. The committee vote scheduled for Thursday, if it proceeds at all, will be the first concrete test of whether Blanche's assurances to senators have been sufficient, or whether the absence of written guarantees and the weight of the IRS settlement ruling will cost him the Republican unity he cannot do without.