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\n

Sens. Thom Tillis and John Cornyn \u2014 both Republicans spurned by the Trump administration for not being adequately loyal \u2014 are now being actively courted by the White House to confirm a key Cabinet official.<\/p>\n

The Trump administration is engaging directly with Tillis and Cornyn\u2019s aides as the North Carolina and Texas lawmakers continue to withhold firm commitments to voting to confirm attorney general nominee Todd Blanche in the Judiciary Committee \u2014 where a single \u201cno\u201d vote on the GOP side of the aisle could tank his prospects.<\/p>\n

Tillis and Cornyn both confirmed the back-and-forth in interviews on Capitol Hill Monday evening, and a White House official, granted anonymity to speak candidly, also said in a statement that \u201cthe Administration continues to have active conversations with members of the Senate Judiciary Committee.\u201d<\/p>\n

It shows how the balance of power, at least in this high-stakes confirmation battle, has shifted for the two outgoing lawmakers \u2014 and how Cornyn<\/a> and Tillis both know it.<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, does he want to get confirmed or not?\u201d was Cornyn\u2019s response when asked whether he would be able to extract concessions from Blanche given his previous reticence to amend a controversial settlement agreement he entered into on President Donald Trump’s behalf. <\/p>\n

The senator is still coming off a bruising primary loss to Texas attorney general Ken Paxton, whom Trump propelled to victory with an endorsement during the run-off.<\/p>\n

Cornyn said Monday he is currently discussing with the Trump administration two main components of that settlement Blanche, in his capacity as deputy attorney general, brokered with the IRS: one shielding Trump and his family from IRS audits, the other launching a $1.8 billion \u201canti-weaponization fund\u201d critics believe could operate as a slush fund for the president\u2019s allies. <\/p>\n

\u201cThose are the issues we’re continuing to discuss with the administration to see whether we can get a modification of the settlement agreement,\u201d said Cornyn.<\/p>\n

Blanche has said repeatedly the fund is now effectively dead amid bipartisan backlash at the time of its announcement. But Cornyn pushed Blanche to admit during his confirmation hearing last week that the program could still be revived through a breach of contract lawsuit brought in the future by Trump, absent a written change to the underlying settlement.<\/p>\n

Tillis, who also said he needs the fund nullified in order to vote for Blanche, said Monday he\u2019s been encouraged that the Justice Department has coordinated with his staff to ameliorate concerns.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know my staff have been in touch, almost, probably daily,\u201d with the DOJ, said Tillis, \u201cso they are acting. I mean, they’re following up in good faith.\u201d<\/p>\n

Neither Tillis nor Cornyn were specific about how, exactly, the Trump administration might cut a deal with Republican senators putting the prospects of the fund\u2019s revival to rest \u2014 whether it would be something the Justice Department could facilitate internally or if Congress would have to take legislative action.<\/p>\n

Cornyn said Monday that changing the settlement through legislation would be \u201cmuch more problematic.\u201d Tillis, however, has been talking about drafting legislation that could pass the Senate through a unanimous consent agreement; Blanche, during his confirmation hearing last Wednesday, didn\u2019t shoot down the idea.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have to be convinced that there is no way that it could actually ever be resurrected again,\u201d Tillis said, \u201cwhich is exactly why I talked about the legislation \u2026 that [Blanche] offered to help write the technical language for.\u201d<\/p>\n

Blanche has already acquiesced to another one of Tillis\u2019 demands: that he meet with victims of the late, convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, after Blanche, as deputy attorney general, oversaw the haphazard release of the Epstein files resulting in victims\u2019 identities being inadvertently exposed.<\/p>\n

Tillis appeared largely satisfied that this meeting took place according to his wishes \u2014 even though at least one of the survivors of Epstein\u2019s abuse called the sit down “insufficient” and alleged Blanche took no responsibility for the botched redaction process.<\/p>\n

He did, however, say he would “like to understand what, if any, steps were taken for opening FBI investigations \u2014 whether it was a request or whether it was an acceptance to do it,\u201d regarding what Blanche may or may not have committed to in that meeting in terms of continuing to bring Epstein\u2019s co-conspirators to justice.<\/p>\n

Ultimately, the general consensus is that Tillis will end up voting \u201cyes\u201d for Blanche and may already, privately, be decided: \u201cTillis, we think, is squared away,\u201d said one person granted anonymity to discuss sensitive matters regarding the nomination process.<\/p>\n

Senate Judiciary Chair Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) also indicated Monday he believed the North Carolina lawmaker was coming around, saying he had heard \u201cfavorable comments over the weekend from Tillis.\u201d <\/p>\n

He did not answer when asked what he thought of Cornyn, however, who has been less willing to offer praise.<\/p>\n

Republicans hope the Judiciary Committee can vote to report Blanche\u2019s nomination favorably to the Senate floor July 30, and subsequently confirm him the first week of August before the chamber leaves for a monthlong recess.<\/p>\n

Senate Majority Leader John Thune said Monday he \u201cthink[s]\u201d Grassley and his team are prepared to get Blanche out of committee \u201cin time to process him in this work period.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cAt this point, I\u2019m not certain,\u201d Thune said. \u201cI think they\u2019re hopeful.\u201d <\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sens. Thom Tillis and John Cornyn \u2014 both Republicans spurned by the Trump administration for not being adequately loyal \u2014 are now being actively courted by the White House to confirm a key Cabinet official. The Trump administration is engaging directly with Tillis and Cornyn\u2019s aides as the North Carolina and Texas lawmakers continue to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26212","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-congress"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26212","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26212"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26212\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26212"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26212"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26212"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}