President Trump Issues Ultimatum to Senators John Cornyn and Thom Tillis Over Attorney General Nomination
President Trump issued an ultimatum to Senators John Cornyn and Thom Tillis on Saturday, demanding they approve his nominee for Attorney General, Todd Blanche, or he will push to resurrect the $1.8 billion "anti-weaponization fund." The fund was established as part of a settlement from a lawsuit filed by the president against the IRS and Treasury Department, intended to compensate those who claim they were politically persecuted by previous administrations. Senators Cornyn and Tillis, who are both departing Congress, have conditioned their support for Blanche on the administration's commitment to officially scrap the fund. While the Tillis and Cornyn have expressed concerns about the fund, the administration announced that the fund is currently dead. However, President Trump expressed a desire to keep it active, noting that people were "horribly abused" and deserve compensation. The Senate Judiciary Committee will vote on Blanche's nomination this Tuesday. If the senators do not relent, the administration announced that President Trump will keep Blanche as acting Attorney General and potentially resubmit his nomination next year.