Blanche begins confirmation process by meeting GOP Sen. Grassley

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche began meeting with Republican senators Monday as he launches a monthlong confirmation process.

Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) was Blanche’s first stop as chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, which will eventually process his nomination.

Grassley, in a statement Monday, was positive about Blanche’s career so far.

“I appreciated the opportunity to sit down again with Todd Blanche, who’s spent the last year and a half supporting President Trump’s mission of law and order as Deputy Attorney General and now Acting Attorney General,” Grassley said. “Blanche is prepared to build on that success and continue working hard to keep American families safe as the next Attorney General.”

Grassley added that he is still waiting for some “records to be produced” from oversight inquiries he has made of the Department of Justice (DOJ). He did not specify what records those are.

“I expect Blanche to respond to my outstanding requests for records, so the American people get the transparency and accountability they deserve,” Grassley said.

Trump nominated Blanche to the position of full-time attorney general last week on the heels of a bitter fight within the Senate Republican Conference over a proposed $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund for people who felt the DOJ had unfairly prosecuted them. Blanche announced the new fund in his capacity as acting attorney general.

While the fund was withdrawn as an idea, some senators were still hesitant last week about Blanche, given both his involvement with the fund and his career history as Trump’s personal lawyer.

Two of Blanche’s critics, Sens. John Cornyn (R-Texas) and Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), who are both leaving the Senate at the end of the term, are key votes on the Judiciary panel. Just one of them could hold up Blanche’s nomination.

Cornyn, the second-ranking Republican on the committee, said Monday evening that he’s scheduled to meet with Blanche later this week.

“That he’ll follow the law,” Cornyn said, when asked what he’d like to hear from Blanche.

Last week, Cornyn said he had concerns about Blanche having been Trump’s personal lawyer, which is distinct from the job of attorney general.

“Being AG [attorney general] is a unique job because you’re the president’s lawyer, you’re the chief legal officer for the United States, but you’re also a member of the president’s Cabinet, which means you could be fired at any time,” Cornyn told reporters.

“So it’s maybe the hardest balancing act in the Cabinet. So I’m interested in hearing how he would approach the job, because he was President Trump’s lawyer at one time, but if he’s, if he’s AG, he won’t be the president’s lawyer,” Cornyn said.

Grassley, in his statement, said Blanche’s hearing in front of the full committee would be in July.

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