Trump May Pull Blanche's Nomination—With a Catch

President Trump is dangling an unusual solution to a Senate roadblock of his attorney general pick. In a Truth Social post Thursday, the president said he might "temporarily" pull Todd Blanche's nomination and resubmit it after two Republican skeptics, Sens. John Cornyn and Thom Tillis, leave office in January, reports CNBC. Cornyn and Tillis have balked over the Justice Department's controversial settlement of Trump's lawsuit against the IRS and are demanding modifications. After Trump's threat to pull the nomination temporarily, Cornyn wrote that the president "is mistaken if he believes concerns about the provisions in his tax lawsuit settlement are limited to me and Senator Tillis."

In his social media post, Trump called Blanche a "star" and slammed both lame-duck senators, claiming credit for ending their political careers. He also made clear that Blanche would continue as acting attorney general in the interim. Both the New York Times and the Hill note a risk for Trump under his new potential strategy: There's no guarantee Republicans will retain control of the Senate next year, which could further complicate Blanche's confirmation. Among other things, Cornyn is demanding to see a written guarantee that the "anti-weaponization fund" set up as part of the IRS settlement is permanently dead.