Cogito Ergo Non Serviam
Blanche AG Confirmation Vote Delayed
Todd Blanche is the acting Attorney-General of the US, and he was to have a Senate Judiciary Committee vote to send his nomination to the floor of the Senate this morning. That is not going to happen. The votes to confirm him are not there. The Republican Party has a majority in the US Senate, and therefore, they have a majority on the committee; that is how the Senate operates. There is no filibuster in committee, so all he needs to advance his case is a simple majority of the committee members voting. Senators Johyn Cornyn (R-TX) and Thom Tillis (R-NC) oppose the nomination without certain guarantees. So, until those are addressed, there is no vote scheduled.
The sticking point here is the $1.776 billion slush fund the president wants as part of a settlement with the IRS over the president's tax returns. The settlement also includes immunity from tax investigations for the Trump family for eternity.
The New York Times explained:
In June, Mr. Blanche said he would drop a proposed $1.8 [sic] billion fund to compensate purported victims of Biden-era actions by the Justice Department but said a provision shielding Mr. Trump and his family from tax investigations would remain in place.
The tax provision emerged as the biggest sticking point on the eve of a scheduled Judiciary Committee vote. Mr. Cornyn, a former state judge who lost a primary to a Trump-backed challenger, Ken Paxton, said he had received no written assurances from Mr. Blanche that the audit shield would not apply to future tax liabilities or be extended to a wider circle of people.
Legally, Mr. Blanche said it was dead in Congresional testimony under oath. That means if it goes forward, he has committed a felony, lying to Congress. So, the demand that Mr. Cornyn has made that it be put in writing seems to be nothing but a media play. He wants some kind of act of contrition it seems in exchange for his vote.
Neither Senator Cornyn nor Senator Tillis will be back in January. They are leaving the Senate. Mr. Tillis is retiring voluntarily and Mr. Cornyn lost his primary as the NYT noted. It is disgusting and shameful that they only grew a spine when their political careers were ending. If they had been braver, the nation would have been spared some of the MAGA idiocy that now has prices up, jobs and growth slowing and a looming military disaster in Iran.
Be that as it may, Mr. Trump believes Mr. Cornyn is simply avenging himself on Mr. Trump for the Paxton endorsement. "I don't know, maybe John Cornyn is upset with me because I didn't endorse him. I don't know what it is, but I haven't heard that there's a problem.” One can add deafness to the presidential shortcomings.
The current situation can go on indefinitely. There is no time limit on the nomination. There are but three ways to terminate the process. The White House can withdraw the nomination. Mr. Blanche can withdraw it. The Senate can vote to sink the nomination. The first two are not going to happen because the president and Mr. Blanche want it very badly.
This puts all eyes on Chairman Chuck "Older than Dirt" Grassley. "Chairman Grassley works to set President Trump’s nominees up for success in committee, not failure," a spokesperson said yesterday. Tomorrow's markup [cancelled] is postponed as work continues to secure sufficient support in committee to favorably report [Blanche], who is highly qualified for the job."
Can the three Senators (whose combined ages is 221) find a way to vote for Mr. Blanche? All it takes is a meaningless signed note that so far is not forthcoming. It would appear the Republican Party in the Senate is completely inept.
© Copyright 2026 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Ubuntu Linux.
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