JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:
The fate of Todd Blanche's nomination for attorney general is in doubt. Two key Republicans are withholding their support for Blanche over concerns about the Justice Department's deal with President Trump to end his lawsuit against the IRS. Now Trump says he's willing to temporarily withdraw Blanche's nomination. It's a rare stumbling block to one of the key positions in implementing the president's agenda. NPR Justice correspondent Ryan Lucas has been following and joins us now. Hey, Ryan.
RYAN LUCAS, BYLINE: Hi there.
SUMMERS: So, Ryan, before we get to President Trump, tell us, what is the holdup in Blanche's nomination?
LUCAS: So, look, there are a lot of reasons that people have concerns about Blanche as attorney general, but the snag here in his confirmation process, it revolves around the deal that the Justice Department made to end President Trump's IRS lawsuit over his leaked tax returns. Remember, that agreement included the creation of a nearly $1.8 billion anti-weaponization fund. Blanche has said that is not moving forward. But there was also a second related part that was a sweeping immunity deal for Trump, his family and businesses from audits of past tax returns. That very much remains in effect.
Two Republican senators, Texas' John Cornyn and North Carolina's Thom Tillis, they have concerns about this settlement. They want written guarantees from the Justice Department about it, in particular the scope of that tax immunity deal. But they say they haven't received the guarantees they're asking for. And so, late last night, the Senate Judiciary Committee called off a vote that was planned for this morning on Blanche's nomination.
SUMMERS: And of course, that brings us to today. And President Trump, what has he had to say?
LUCAS: Well, as he often does, the president posted on social media. He offered a lot of praise for Blanche, called him a star, and he also took a couple of swipes at Cornyn and Tillis. Trump mentioned that he refused to endorse either of them. He said their political careers may have been ended because of that. I will add that Trump endorsed Cornyn's primary challenger this year. That was a big blow to Cornyn's bid for another term. Cornyn is leaving Congress at the end of the year.
Tillis did not run for reelection. He is retiring at the end of the year. So there's that internal GOP political dynamic to this. But on Blanche, Trump also said he could temporarily withdraw Blanche's nomination if Cornyn and Tillis don't drop their opposition. And Trump said that he would just put Blanche back up for consideration after the two lawmakers leave office. And as I mentioned a second ago, that would be at the end of the year.
SUMMERS: I mean, as a former Capitol Hill reporter, I have to say, Ryan, I'm a little curious how well that would go over in Congress, to resubmit the nomination.
LUCAS: Yeah. That's a fair question. I will say that the 10 other Republican members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, they appear to support Blanche, but there's certainly an open question about the full Senate. On that point, Cornyn said on social media today that the president is mistaken if he thinks that Cornyn and Tillis are the only Republicans who are concerned about the settlement. And Cornyn said he doesn't know why the Justice Department won't just provide the assurances he's asking for. He was asked at one point yesterday whether Blanche and the Justice Department aren't providing the assurances he needs because the president doesn't want any changes to the immunity deal. Here's what Cornyn said.
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JOHN CORNYN: I can see why he wants it, because it provides immunity from audits that no other taxpayer could possibly get.
LUCAS: And it's worth stating clearly here that Trump would rather pull Blanche's nomination than provide the assurances about the tax immunity deal that benefits him, his family and his businesses, a deal that, as Cornyn says there, no other taxpayer could possibly get.
SUMMERS: OK. So as far as Blanche goes, where do things go next?
LUCAS: So we have this standoff for now. The two sides are still talking. It's unclear, of course, whether they'll come to a solution that they can both agree on. We will ultimately see whether Trump follows through and temporarily pulls Blanche's nomination or not, if this standoff drags on. Either way, though, for now, Blanche remains acting attorney general and, of course, very much in charge at the Justice Department.
SUMMERS: NPR Justice correspondent Ryan Lucas. Thanks.
LUCAS: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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