Overview
- President Trump publicly attacked Sen. Thom Tillis on Friday after reporters raised Tillis’s refusal to back Todd Blanche unless Blanche explicitly condemns the January 6 attack.
- Tillis has said he will withhold support for Blanche’s full Senate confirmation unless Blanche disavows the actions of January 6 participants, citing concern about Blanche’s stance and past pardons.
- Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche told a House Appropriations subcommittee this week that the Justice Department was not proceeding with the roughly $1.8 billion 'anti-weaponization' fund tied to a recent settlement.
- Trump said he will formally nominate Blanche for attorney general, praised the fund as 'a beautiful thing,' and later said he would 'have to ask the lawyers' whether the fund is dead or only on hold.
- The fight has widened GOP fractures, prompted legal and legislative moves to block or constrain the fund, and left Blanche’s nomination and Senate business unresolved while lawyers and lawmakers weigh next steps.