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By Anna Commander, Gabe Whisnant, and Hannah Parry
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The Senate Judiciary Committee has postponed a key vote scheduled for Thursday that was intended to push forward acting Attorney General Todd Blanche's nomination as attorney general, numerous outlets reported.
"Chairman Grassley works to set President Trump’s nominees up for success in committee, not failure. Senators Cornyn and Tillis want written assurances from the Department of Justice regarding the Trump-IRS settlement. Tomorrow’s markup is postponed as work continues to secure sufficient support in committee to favorably report Attorney General-nominee Todd Blanche, who is highly qualified for the job,” a committee spokesperson said on Wednesday, according to the news outlets.
Elie Honig, former federal prosecutor, reacted to the report on Wednesday night, telling CNN's Kaitlan Collins in part, "This postponement itself is a stinging rebuke of Todd Blanche coming from senators of his own party. However this plays out, this is a genuine embarrassment for Todd Blanche. It says a lot about his credibility when senators of his own party don't even trust his under-oath testimony."
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Meanwhile, Senator John Cornyn's planned Wednesday meeting with Blanche was called off, dealing a fresh blow to Blanche's already uncertain bid to become the permanent head of the Justice Department. The Texas Republican has been demanding written assurances over the department's controversial $1.8 billion anti-weaponization fund and said Wednesday that DOJ officials "know what they need to do but they simply refuse to do it."
“I haven’t seen a single piece of writing that is responsive to what I’ve requested,” Cornyn told reporters.
Cornyn said he will not vote to advance Blanche's nomination without a resolution. He added that Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley has told him a decision is needed by 4 p.m. on whether a committee vote scheduled for Thursday can proceed.
Just before 4 p.m., Cornyn told reporters he was headed to a meeting with Grassley ahead of the scheduled confirmation vote. Asked why the Justice Department had not provided written assurances, Cornyn replied, "Maybe they think they can roll me." When pressed on whether DOJ could secure his vote without those assurances, he responded simply: "No."
Following the meeting, the Texas Republican said he was uncertain whether Thursday's vote to confirm Blanche would move forward as planned.
"This is a very unusual circumstance," Cornyn told reporters.
The senator’s demands highlight broader tensions within the Republican Party over the direction of the Justice Department and how it has handled investigations including those of sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Blanche has been serving as the premier law enforcement official in the U.S. since April, after Pam Bondi was fired.
On Wednesday at the White House, President Donald Trump bristled at Cornyn, saying, "Todd Blanche is outstanding ... Maybe John Cornyn is upset with me because I didn't endorse him [in the Texas Senate race], I don't know what it is."
Responding to Trump's remarks when asked about them by CNN, Cornyn said, "That's a convenient excuse, and it happens to be untrue."
Newsweek reached out to the DOJ and Cornyn's office via online form and email Tuesday night for comment.
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What To Know
Cornyn, who lost his primary election to Trump-backed Ken Paxton, is calling for written guarantees from Blanche regarding the future of the funding program, which has become a focal point for lawmakers who argue that the Justice Department has been politicized.
In a post to X earlier on Tuesday, Cornyn said, "Fake news alert: there is no 'deal' on Blanche nom. They know what they have to do."
Cornyn’s position suggests that a simple verbal commitment may not be enough to secure his vote, as he appears to be looking for concrete assurances before moving forward.
Blanche, who has been selected for the attorney general role, faces a rigorous confirmation process as lawmakers scrutinize his plans for the Justice Department. While many Republicans have expressed confidence in his qualifications and alignment with the Trump administration’s priorities, concerns from senators like Cornyn and Thom Tillis of North Carolina have revealed fissures over specific policy issues.
Tillis, however, on Tuesday told CNN's Manu Raju that talks with the Justice Department about killing the fund are “going pretty well," adding that "hopefully, we can get the White House to execute.”
Cornyn’s intervention adds another layer of uncertainty to a nomination already described as being on shaky ground. A single Republican holdout can become significant in a closely divided Senate, making individual negotiations especially important. The upcoming meeting between Cornyn and Blanche will likely determine whether Blanche can address those concerns and whether the senator is willing to support his confirmation.
Craig Agranoff, political professor at Florida Atlantic University, told Newsweek via text message on Tuesday night that "Cornyn is making a realistic ask given the unusual structure of that settlement agreement. Senators routinely demand written commitments on nominations when the language leaves open the possibility of something being revived later. Blanche has said the anti-weaponization fund is dead but has so far declined to modify the underlying agreement in writing, which is exactly what Cornyn is pressing for.
"Whether Blanche bends depends on how badly the White House wants this confirmation. Cornyn is considered a lame duck after losing his primary to a Trump-backed challenger, so he has little political incentive to fold. At the same time Blanche needs every Republican vote he can get on a closely divided Judiciary Committee. This is classic leverage politics. The administration may ultimately decide a written clarification is a small price to pay for getting their AG confirmed."
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Controversy Over ‘Anti-Weaponization’ Fund
The fund was designed to compensate people who claimed they were unfairly targeted by government investigations. Blanche framed it as a response to what President Donald Trump and his allies have described as “lawfare.”
But the proposal faced bipartisan criticism and legal obstacles, leading the administration to ultimately comply with a federal court order in Virginia temporarily blocking it, preventing the Justice Department from establishing or operating it pending further court proceedings.
Critics raised concerns that it could allow compensation for those convicted of crimes connected to the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, including those found guilty of assaulting police officers. Blanche declined to publicly rule out such eligibility.
Under mounting political and legal pressure, Blanche told lawmakers last month: “We’re not moving forward with the fund, period.” The reversal marked a rare retreat for the administration.
Epstein Survivors Reveal What Todd Blanche Told Them in Meeting
Dani Bensky, one of the survivors who met with Blanche earlier this month, offered new details Wednesday about why she and other victims described the meeting as dismissive and unproductive.
Speaking about the long-awaited meeting, Bensky said she believed Senator Thom Tillis had expected a more meaningful discussion when he urged Blanche to meet with survivors.
"When Senator Tillis asked Todd Blanche to meet with survivors, I don't think that he had the meeting in mind that we got," Bensky said. "The meeting was very condescending, a lot of talking in circles, arguing semantics ... We walked away with absolutely no answers and it felt like a no-win situation."
When asked to provide a specific example of what she meant by "condescending," Bensky said that Blanche repeatedly cut off survivors as they tried to explain their concerns.
"He actually said the words 'get to the point' to us survivors who've been waiting to meet with him for eight months," she said. "He said, 'Can you get to the point already? What are you getting at?'"
Bensky said those remarks were particularly difficult to hear after survivors had spent months seeking a meeting with Blanche. She argued that his comments reflected a lack of appreciation for the gravity of the crimes they were discussing.
"There was no integrity. There was no understanding that he's dealing with the largest sex trafficking ring that we've seen in the U.S. ever," Bensky said. "Instead, it was like, 'You have an Epstein problem,' right."
Bensky is not the first survivor to accuse Blanche of failing to provide meaningful answers during a highly anticipated meeting, with one survivor describing him as “abrasive” and “condescending.”
Annie Farmer, one of Epstein’s survivors, said shortly after the meeting that it had left her more opposed to Blanche’s confirmation, accusing him of offering few concrete answers and failing to take responsibility for decisions made under his leadership.
“After meeting with Todd Blanche, I feel even more confident in urging senators to vote against his confirmation as the United States Attorney General,” Farmer said. “I found him abrasive, condescending, and intentionally noncommittal to survivors—a marked contrast to his public testimony during his confirmation hearing.”
Farmer said Blanche focused on criticizing the failures of previous administrations while refusing to address questions about the Justice Department’s own actions. “While quick to point to the failures of previous administrations, he refused to take accountability for mistakes made under his own leadership,” she said.
Among her concerns, Farmer said Blanche would not commit to an inquiry into why her sister, Maria Farmer, reported Epstein’s alleged abuse in 1996 but said the accusations were not properly investigated.
Blanche and the Justice Department have previously disputed survivors' broader characterization of the meeting, describing it as productive and saying he met with victims to hear their concerns and discuss potential investigative avenues.
What Happens Next?
Cornyn's latest remarks reflect a larger debate within Washington over the future role of the Justice Department, including questions on accountability, funding priorities and political influence. As Blanche works to gain support, senators are signaling that commitments made during the confirmation process could shape expectations for how the department operates going forward.
It is immediately unknown when the Senate Judiciary Committee will reschedule the key vote related to Blanche's nomination.
Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Edward T. Cummins.
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