Trump Threatens to Pull Blanche Nomination, Blasts Cornyn and Tillis
Trump vows to keep acting Attorney General Todd Blanche in place and reinstate him once GOP Senators John Cornyn and Thom Tillis leave office, faulting them for refusing to back his pick.
WASHINGTON D.C. — Donald J. Trump threatened to temporarily withdraw the attorney general nomination of Todd Blanche, the acting head of the Justice Department, blaming two Republican senators for blocking the pick.
Trump said Blanche would stay on in an acting capacity regardless, and could return to the nomination once Senators John Cornyn of Texas and Thom Tillis of North Carolina leave office. Both men voted for Merrick Garland, the former attorney general nominee, Trump noted in the post.
“Todd Blanche is a STAR, and everyone knows it,” Trump said. “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 office.”
Here is the full post on truthsocial: “Todd Blanche is a STAR, and everyone knows it! He has the potential to go down as one of the Greatest Attorney Generals of All Time. However, John Cornyn, of Texas, and Thom Tillis, of North Carolina, both of whom I refused to Endorse, and whose political careers have been ended by my action, are refusing to vote for this Great Nominee, who will remain, in any event, as Acting. Remember, both Cornyn and Tillis voted for Merrick Garland, and others, too numerous to mention. 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 office. Trump” on July 30, 2026 at 11:15 AM ET.
This is Trump’s 1st message released today. On average, Trump produces 18 posts per day since his inauguration on January 20, 2025.
The move fits a broader pattern in Trump’s recent messaging, with 55 of his 437 posts over the last 30 days focused on domestic policy.
Blanche has served as acting attorney general since April 2026, when Trump replaced Pam Bondi and elevated Blanche to lead the department according to justice.gov. The Senate confirmed him as deputy attorney general in March 2025. Trump nominated him for the top job in June 2026, though the Senate has not confirmed him.
The stakes fall on the Justice Department’s leadership and on the two senators Trump named. Blanche keeps day-to-day control of the department as acting attorney general regardless of the vote, so a stalled confirmation carries limited immediate effect. Cornyn and Tillis, meanwhile, face the political cost of a public break with the president who controls their party’s base.
Blanche is no stranger to Trump. He led Trump’s defense in the New York hush-money case involving Stormy Daniels and represented him in the federal classified documents and election matters. Before entering Trump’s orbit, Blanche spent eight years in the violent-crimes division of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York.
For the average reader, the fight underscores that a Cabinet department can run for months under an acting chief who lacks a confirmation vote. Blanche continues to set enforcement priorities across federal law without the Senate’s sign-off.
This has happened before. Presidents from both parties have relied on acting agency heads and clashed with senators of their own party over nominees. Trump himself governed for stretches of his first term with acting secretaries at Defense, Homeland Security and other agencies.
The next decision rests with the Senate, which controls whether and when to hold a confirmation vote on Blanche. A date for that vote has not been announced.
Presidential feuds with senators of the same party are not new. In 1937, President Franklin D. Roosevelt pushed a plan to expand the Supreme Court and clashed with Senate Democrats, including Majority Leader Joseph Robinson, who died that July as the fight raged according to britannica.com. The Senate rejected Roosevelt’s court plan by a vote of 70 to 22, a rare public defeat that cost the president standing with his own party for the rest of his second term.
Assigned topic: Domestic Policy.
This is Trump’s 1st Truth Social post today, out of 1 total today.
On average, Trump produces 18 posts per day since his inauguration on January 20, 2025.
Trump’s last post was 13 hours ago.
This post is not part of a thread.
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