So, President Trump just drew a hard line in the sand over two retiring GOP senators, telling them straight up they can't stop his pick for Attorney General. If they say no, he says he'll keep Todd Blanche in the job forever. This isn't some polite request for a vote; it's a direct threat to use the temporary role to block their power, and he made that crystal clear Saturday morning in a long post on Truth Social where he named names and laid out the stakes for everyone to see.
The fight is really about a huge sum of money and a new law, and according to reports, Blanche has been acting Attorney General since April 2. He's the one behind a plan to set aside $1.8 billion—a fund that would pay people claiming they were treated badly by the Biden team. Later, the Justice Department stated it wouldn't proceed with the fund independently, but now Trump wants Congress to pass a bill to make it official, calling it the Anti-Weaponization Bill which he says takes care of victims of political persecution.
Trump wrote that he would keep Blanche as Acting A.G. if Senators Cornyn and Tillis do not approve him, and he also said he would push hard to get the Anti-Weaponization Bill PASSED. The President is willing to keep a temporary leader in place just to force a vote on this bill.
Trump this morning after Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Grassley postponed its vote on Todd Blanche to be Attorney General: "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… https://t.co/nXZao2vo8h pic.twitter.com/x79S49pUM9
— Craig Caplan (@CraigCaplan) July 30, 2026
Sen. John Cornyn and Sen. Thom Tillis have been openly against the nomination, both facing primary challenges from Trump or his allies. Tillis said he would not seek reelection in June 2025, while Cornyn lost his primary fight, and now they're stuck. According to the Washington Times, the Senate Judiciary Committee plans to attempt a re-vote on Tuesday.
It's a classic case of a leader calling out weak allies. Trump said the man who lost has become very angry, adding that he understands that feeling and thinks he would do the same thing if he were in their shoes. But he isn't going to let them stall, calling Blanche a voice of reason and saying the issue will immediately be back on the table. The President promised he will get it done and thanked everyone for their attention to this matter. We need to know if the Senate will cave, especially with the committee vote set for Tuesday. If they block Blanche, Trump says he keeps him anyway, leaving the Senate with no control over the Justice Department. They can vote no all they want, but the President says he won't let it end that way. He wants the bill passed to fix the damage done by the last administration.