Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche appears at his confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill on July 15, 2026 in Washington, DC.
Eric Lee | getty images
Two Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee said Thursday they remained undecided about voting to confirm Todd Blanche for U.S. attorney general, threatening President Donald Trump’s nominee as the nation’s top law enforcement official.
“I’m still considering it,” Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, told MS Now when asked where he stood on Blanche, a day after he and other Judiciary panel members questioned the nominee on the first day of her confirmation hearing about a controversial and now-expired $1.8 billion Justice Department fund.
“Yes,” Cornyn said when asked if he was undecided. “Like, I’ve said it so many times.”
Cornyn is one of 11 Republicans on the Judiciary Committee, which also includes 10 Democrats. Republicans lost one member when Senator Lindsey Graham, R-S.C. died unexpectedly last weekend. Cornyn is set to leave the Senate in early January, having lost his state’s Republican Senate primary in May.
Another Republican on the committee, Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina, said during the second day of hearings on Thursday that he wants Blanche to meet with victims of late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein before voting on her confirmation.
Blanche later arrived at Capitol Hill and is scheduled to meet with Epstein’s victims at around 4:30 p.m. ET, MS Now reports.
It’s another example of Republicans leaving office who are hindering Trump’s agenda by raising concerns about some of the president’s actions. Blanche is a former criminal defense attorney for the President.
Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) speaks to reporters outside the Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing at the Dirksen Senate Office Building on July 15, 2026 in Washington, DC.
Nathan Posner | Anadolu | getty images
Blanche has faced criticism for not meeting with victims and for the DOJ – while Blanche was in the No. 2 leadership position – releasing files about Epstein that contained identifying information about him.
“I have not made any final decisions, but Mr. Blanche said very early yesterday that he would meet with Epstein’s victims today, if that could be arranged,” Tillis said at the hearing, which Blanche did not attend.
Tillis said, “I understand the restriction that counsel has to be present. I would expect that meeting to take place before it is ready to come out of this committee.” “That’s a very important part of getting yes.”
Tillis also said that, like Cornyn, he has concerns about DOJ funds.
Tillis said, “There are very specific, measurable work products — not winks and nods and handshakes — but definite, ratified, executed agreements that will make me feel comfortable that this turkey of an idea is dead.”
If Cornyn or Tillis, along with every Democrat, were to vote against advancing Blanche’s nomination – as is expected – while the remaining Republicans voted for Blanche, the nomination would be stalled in the Judiciary Committee.
This would prevent the entire Senate from voting on the nomination.
Blanch, who was confirmed by the Senate as deputy attorney general last year, has been serving as acting attorney general since April, when Trump fired Attorney General Pam Bondi.
If Blanche is not confirmed as his replacement, he may continue to serve as acting Attorney General.
Asked Thursday if he was still concerned about whether the DOJ’s “anti-weapons” funds are really depleted — as Blanche has claimed — Cornyn said, “Yeah, yeah.”
Cornyn pressed Blanch during Wednesday’s hearing on the fund, which the acting attorney general created as part of an out-of-court settlement of a lawsuit by Trump against the Internal Revenue Service.
This fund was earmarked by the Justice Department for alleged victims of prosecutorial overreach.
Critics, including Republican senators, called it a “slush fund” and feared it would be used to pay off Trump’s supporters who were convicted of assaulting police officers at the U.S. Capitol during the January 6, 2021 riots.
Senator Thom Tillis speaking on CNBC’s Squawk Box in Washington, DC on June 15. Third, 2026.
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Blanch previously told Congress that the fund had been depleted, but she has declined to put that claim in writing in court filings related to the lawsuit challenging its legality. Trump has continued to express interest in the fund after Blanch said it was being removed amid legal challenges.
Cornyn asked Wednesday whether Trump and other plaintiffs in his IRS case could sue to revive the funds. He pointed to the settlement agreement’s language, saying it “may be amended only upon the written agreement of the parties.”
Blanche replied, “I guess they could bring a lawsuit, and then we’ll litigate over it.”
“But even if we are suing it, there is no fund. So whatever the outcome of such a lawsuit, there will be no revival of the fund.”
Cornyn later told reporters that he was concerned about language in the agreement, leaving the door open to reviving the fund.
During the Judiciary hearing on Thursday, former Attorney General John Ashcroft testified in support of Blanch.
Epstein survivor Dani Bensky, testifying against the nomination, told senators, “Todd Blanch has been a leader in releasing nude images of survivors, exposing ‘Jane Does’ and exposing the identifying information and documents of over a hundred victims describing horrific acts of abuse, including my own.”
