Someone 'above Blanche’s pay grade' is blocking deal with Senate: Republican

Two U.S. Senators have said that someone at the White House is stopping President Donald Trump's nominee to be attorney general from signing off on preventing the so-called "anti-weaponization fund" for MAGA allies who felt they were unfairly targeted by the U.S. government.

In an earlier interview, Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) said, "But, I don't know, somebody somewhere, I don't know whether it's the White House, or somebody works there or somebody works for the president, is basically telling them don't agree to those terms. And so we're kind of back to square one."

The terms Cornyn wants include a signed guarantee that the fund will not be started. A federal judge requested the same thing in court, and Blanche refused twice to put such a pledge in writing.

Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) is now part of the small caucus of outgoing senators unwilling to sign off on Blanche without that guarantee.

MS NOW's Ali Vitali spoke to Tillis on Thursday morning. In the interview, the outgoing Republican senator said that Blanche has been working with lawmakers in good faith. The problems are coming from someone else in the White House.

"I think Blanche is trying to fulfill the commitment he made in the hearing. And so, we're continuing to talk, and we need to get to the person who's in the way. Todd Blanche is negotiating in good faith, but it's clear that the approval to get this done is above his pay grade, and we just need to get to that pay grade," said Tillis.

He began to walk away and shouted over his shoulder, "I don't believe it's the president."

Within a few hours, Trump went to Truth Social, writing, "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 [attorney general]. 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."

The one thing that could stop that from happening is if Democrats win the Senate in the November elections. It's a long shot that requires flipping four seats, NPR reported this week.

Cornyn responded to Trump on X, saying, "POTUS is mistaken if he believes concerns about the provisions in his tax lawsuit settlement are limited to Senator Tillis and me."