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'Not even a chance' Trump’s 2 major priorities will get my vote: scorned GOP lawmaker

Thursday brings a consequential day for the Republican agenda, as lawmakers on Capitol Hill gather for a marathon voting session that could bring GOP priorities into conflict with those of President Donald Trump. Judging by a pre-vote statement from one senator scorned by Trump, the president faces an uphill battle.

One of the most discussed votes involves the long-hindered effort to pass an immigration and border control budget reconciliation bill, which has been a thorn in the side of Republicans for several months. While it finally appeared likely to pass in the run-up to the Memorial Day recess, the sudden announcement that Trump would create a “slush fund” to pay convicted J6 criminals stalled the bill, with outraged Republicans saying they would not advance it unless the fund was killed. While the fund has since hit a number of major setbacks, it has not technically been ended once and for all. Now, many lawmakers are pushing for an amendment to the reconciliation that would pass it only on the condition that the slush fund is fully banned.

When asked by CNN correspondent Manu Raju about the matter, Senator Thom Tillis (R-NC) shared his thoughts in no uncertain terms.

“Even the AG has said that [the fund] is done, so I don’t know why we don’t just codify it so that we don’t have the Democrats raising the speculation that it could come back at some point,” said Tillis, referring to acting Attorney General Todd Blanche’s recent assertion that the fund was ended, a claim that Trump quickly contradicted.

On Wednesday, it was also announced that the president would seek Blanche’s confirmation to the position permanently, an appointment that has drawn skepticism from across the political spectrum over concerns that the role will be weaponized by Blanche, who is Trump’s former personal attorney.

“The key to Todd or anybody getting through the judiciary committee would be being pretty tight on January the 6th. They better not have said for one minute that the people who beat up police officers were righteous people. You come even close to saying that you don’t even have a [chance] of getting my vote,” said Tillis. The Senator has frequently bumped heads with Trump, recently declaring that the president’s nominee for Director of National Intelligence doesn’t have a “prayer” of getting confirmed. Tillis has also called for his fellow Republicans to speak out against the White House, prompting Trump to call him a “nitpicker.”

When it was pointed out that Trump and Blanche had made opposing statements about the fund, Tillis wasn’t having it.

“The right hand and the left hand need to figure out what the h—— they’re doing,” he declared. “If it’s dead then we should be able to codify that and be done with it.”

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Trump 'surprised' by sudden Republican revolt

On Thursday, reports indicated that President Donald Trump was “surprised” by a Wednesday-night Republican revolt, which blocked and delayed the confirmation of acting Attorney General Todd Blanche. Republican senators who spearheaded the move say they did so because Blanche and the White House have yet to formally kill the anti-weaponization fund that many have decried as a “slush fund” for Trump’s allies.

AS MSNOW reports, “Late Wednesday night, the Senate Judiciary Committee postponed Thursday’s vote to advance Blanche’s nomination after it became clear Republicans didn’t have the votes, with GOP Sens. John Cornyn of Texas and Thom Tillis of North Carolina withholding their support.” The resisting senators say they won’t allow the confirmation until the slush fund is officially ended, which could delay the vote until September or even beyond as the Senate’s summer recess is fast approaching and the White House has been reluctant to kill the fund altogether.

“The skepticism surrounding Blanche has centered on the settlement between the IRS and Trump’s DOJ,” MSNOW elaborated. “The agreement created a $1.776 billion fund for individuals who claimed they were the target of weaponization and it granted Trump, his businesses, his family members and others immunity from IRS investigations — two provisions that sparked bipartisan pushback.”

According to MSNOW, “The White House, for its part, has seemed surprised by the opposition. Blanche has spent weeks meeting with senators, and earlier Wednesday, Trump suggested the confirmation was all but assured. ‘All I can say is Todd Blanche is outstanding, and I thought it was pretty routine because he’s so good,’ Trump said. ‘He just wouldn’t find a better person.’”

Blanche previously worked as Trump’s personal lawyer, which some argue should disqualify him from attorney general as it raises questions of conflict of interest and who Blanche would actually serve: Trump or the American people. Recently, during a Senate Judicial Committee hearing, when asked if Blanche was Trump’s “friend,” the former declared, “I’m his lawyer,” before correcting himself and saying, “Was his lawyer.”

What’s more, Blanche has recently angered many who say he’s been dismissive of the concerns of Jeffrey Epstein’s victims, “with a group of survivors telling reporters outside of Cornyn’s office on Wednesday that Blanche had been ‘very condescending’ when he met with them — and even told them to ‘get to the point.’”

Trump may be surprised by opposition to Blanche, but MSNOW reports that “the warning signs in the Senate have been building for weeks. Cornyn and Tillis have repeatedly said the anti-weaponization fund must be declared dead in writing and the audit immunity must be narrowed.” What’s more, other GOP lawmakers have their concerns. As Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) said earlier in the week, “I have been waiting to see the outcome of the hearing on the anti-weaponization fund and the IRS issues. I’ve been following closely.”

The president has his own theories on why Republicans are bucking his demand, saying, “Maybe John Cornyn’s upset with me because I didn’t endorse him.” This was in reference to Trump’s endorsement of Cornyn’s recent primary challenger in Texas, Ken Paxton, who ultimately won the election.

But Cornyn has dismissed that narrative, saying, “I think that’s a convenient excuse for not cooperating with the Judiciary Committee’s appropriate role in confirmations.”

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Trump may have just exposed himself to 'grounds for impeachment'

On Friday, President Donald Trump posted a Truth Social message that some commentators say may have just handed Democrats the “grounds for impeachment” they’ve been looking for should they take back a Congressional majority in the midterms.

As Michael Tomasky of the New Republic explains, “It all has to do with the slush fund … the result of a settlement in a mind-bending legal proceeding in which Trump sued himself: That is, the president of the United States sued the Internal Revenue Service, seeking $10 billion.” In May, acting Attorney General Todd Blanche — who happened to be Trump’s former personal lawyer — settled the suit by creating a $1.776 billion “anti-weaponization” fund for the benefit of Trump loyalists, including J6 insurrectionists, while granting Trump, his family members and his companies immunity from prosecution for any tax-related crimes.

But outcry from both the public and Congress forced the administration to backpedal, and Blanche assured lawmakers that the fund would be canceled. He said he would put that in writing but failed to do so, and as a result, Republican Senators John Cornyn (R-TX) and Thom Tillis (R-NC) are refusing to vote for his confirmation as attorney general.

At this point, Trump said that he would withdraw Blanche’s nomination for confirmation until Cornyn and Tillis — both of whom are lame duck Senators — leave office in January. As Tomasky explains, “What Trump is saying here is obvious. The slush fund and probably especially the immunity are far more important to him than Blanche is.”

“This matter has now jumped to the top of my list of grounds for impeachment,” Tomasky declared. Trump installed his personal lawyer to preside over a lawsuit in which the president is on both sides, resulting in a nearly $2 billion slush fund and immunity from tax crimes, then he admitted openly that the fund and immunity are more important to him than confirming his attorney general. The holdout Republican Senators have been very clear: if Blanche would commit to ending the fund and immunity in writing, he would be swiftly confirmed. But Trump won’t allow that.

Other commentators have noted the blatant corruption. According to former US attorney Barb McQuade, “Trump would rather pull Blanche’s nomination for AG than allow him to commit in writing that Trump’s IRS deal is off. The immunity Blanche granted to Trump from IRS audits is a windfall that some experts estimate is worth $100 million in taxpayer funds for Trump.”

Based on Trump’s inadvertent admission, “it’s hard to say how many articles of impeachment the Democratic House might come up with,” writes Tomasky, noting that the “biggest challenge will be deciding which high crimes and misdemeanors not to pursue. There’ve been dozens, hundreds, and they just can’t plausibly bring an indictment of 100-plus counts. They’re going to have to keep it to some number that the public can digest and buy into. But the slush fund and immunity grant sure look like count number one to me.”

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Trump’s DOJ meddling threw him under the bus 'he himself was driving'

A series of President Donald Trump’s latest attempts to “meddle” in the Department of Justice have backfired, not only torpedoing his own cases, but causing major problems for his administration. This is according to New York Times legal analyst Alan Feuer, who wrote on Monday how, immediately upon returning to office, Trump “muscled his way into the driver’s seat at the Justice Department, leaving tread marks on its time-honored independence from the White House by demanding, and sometimes directing, investigations into his enemies. But his tight grip on the steering wheel has often threatened to lead the department off a cliff.”

As Feuer explains, the past week has offered perfect examples of how Trump’s attempts to weaponize the DOJ have blown up in his face. Trump’s meddling “imperiled one criminal case, set the stage for sanctions in a second and gummed up the chances that his pick for attorney general will be confirmed by the Senate.”

Feuer says that Trump’s latest batch of DOJ problems began last week, when court documents in the case against former FBI Director James Comey — who is accused of threatening Trump’s assassination by posting a photo of seashells spelling out “86-47” — revealed that the president had orchestrated a plot with the Secret Service to track Comey’s phone in a way that was “legally questionable.” Trump had been following the effort to surveil Comey from Air Force One, and wanted to use the Secret Service agents’ notes in a media appearance later that night.

“The request for the notes was a shocking breach of the distance that most presidents have kept from the day-to-day oversight of criminal investigations and indicated the intensity of Mr. Trump’s personal involvement in the pursuit of Mr. Comey, one of his most reviled political adversaries,” writes Feuer. “But his insistence on interfering with the case could come back to haunt him. After all, Mr. Comey’s lawyers pointed to the episode as evidence that the Justice Department had indicted him — on charges of making threats against the president — only as an act of retribution. If that claim is proven true, it would result in the case being dismissed.”

Trump’s meddling may have also sunk his case against former Olympian David Hearn, who is accused of vandalizing the Reflecting Pool during the renovation debacle earlier in the summer. On Friday, however, the case fell apart “in a spectacular fashion” when U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro — an avid Trump loyalist — “in a court filing, suddenly acknowledged that new information from Mr. Trump’s Interior Department had made her realize that shoddy construction, not anything that Mr. Hearn had done, caused the problems with the pool’s lining.”

“But even that confession did not stop Mr. Trump from doubling down on the vandalism narrative,” writes Feuer. “On Saturday morning, he posted a message on social media saying that he disagreed entirely with Ms. Pirro, a veteran prosecutor and a friend of his for more than 40 years. ‘I don’t know what she was thinking?’ Mr. Trump wrote. While Mr. Hearn's lawyers have not disclosed what they might do next, the case’s collapse gives them an opening to argue that the president’s stubborn statements about the matter suggest the prosecution was vexatious, frivolous or brought in bad faith.”

What’s more, explains Feuer, “The president’s inability to keep his hands to himself also affected another important bit of business at the Justice Department: the effort to confirm Todd Blanche, Mr. Trump’s former personal lawyer, as attorney general.”

By last week, Blanche seemed to have removed the key obstacle to his appointment: appeasing Senators John Cornyn (R-TX) and Thom Tillis (R-NC), who were blocking his confirmation due to his unwillingness to commit to ending Trump’s “slush fund” in writing. But according to Feuer, “As the weekend neared, the president seemed to throw Mr. Blanche under the bus that he himself was driving, issuing a series of confusing and contradictory messages.”

Trump suddenly announced that he would withdraw Blanche’s nomination for confirmation and wait until the two lame duck senators left office, repeating his support for creating the fund, which Blanche had just claimed was dead. The next day, he threatened to revive the fund if Blanche wasn’t confirmed. Tillis was “baffled and dispirited” by all of this, saying, “It’s unfortunate that Todd Blanche, who I consider qualified for the job, will not be confirmed because of this reversal."

While by Sunday, there appeared to have been a breakthrough that will allow Blanche’s confirmation, owing to what he described as “good faith discussions” with senators, “as of Monday morning, Mr. Trump had not yet weighed in on the plan,” which could very well still be torpedoed by the president’s meddling.

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George Conway thinks he knows who Trump's 'incompetent personal advisor' is

On Friday, Senator Thom Tillis (R-NC) posted the assertion that some “incompetent personal advisor” had convinced President Donald Trump he should continue pursuing his controversial “slush fund.” Commentators have been guessing the identity of said advisor ever since, and many have drawn the same conclusion: it was Trump himself.

“The President made it clear today that the so-called Anti Weaponization Fund is still alive, which is exactly why we are attempting to formally end it,” posted Tillis. “While I never disagreed that the Biden Administration pursued a number of vindictive prosecutions related to January 6, the criminals who assaulted police officers and defiled our nation’s Capitol are not ‘great American patriots’ who are ‘victims of government abuse.’ Anyone who attacked law enforcement should still be in prison, not getting a check from the federal government.”

Tillis wrote this in response to an earlier post from Trump, in which the president claimed “there has never been a group of people treated so badly in our Nation’s history,” referring to January 6 insurrectionists and saying they should be "paid back.” The Senator made it clear that he does not agree, writing, “Senator Cornyn and I have been working with Acting AG Todd Blanche to end the Anti Weaponization Fund, and he has been forthright, thoughtful and patient. It’s a shame his confirmation has hit a snag only because an incompetent personal advisor to the President refuses to amend the bogus settlement.”

The internet lit up with guesses as to who the advisor could be.

Attorney and Democratic congressional candidate George Conway, who was formerly married to one of Trump’s top first-term advisors, mused suggestively, “Is there a prediction market play on who the ‘incompetent personal advisor’ is?” One response captured the gist of his implication, guessing, “John Barron” — the name many suspect Trump uses as a pseudonym for calling into C-SPAN.

“JFC,” declared a popular political account. “The ‘incompetent personal advisor’ is TRUMP!”

"Incompetent personal advisor,” noted another. “President Trump famously almost never takes advice.”

“Is this ‘advisor’ physically inside of Trump's head right now?” wondered another. “Answer: Yes, it's Trump.”

“ITS THE PRESIDENT HIMSELF DIPSH–,” said another still.

Others have asserted that it could be “anyone from that garbage administration,” someone else in the GOP, or Boris Epshteyn, Trump’s personal senior counsel since 2025, whose team handled Trump’s IRS lawsuit. Many also took issue with Tillis, suggesting he was using the euphemism to avoid giving Trump his due blame.

“You’ve already pissed off Trump,” said one. “Why are you still deflecting his responsibility here?”

“Lmao dude,” said another. “YOU ARE DIRECTLY RESPONDING TO THE PRESIDENT HERE. THIS IS *HIS* POSITION. Why are you giving him the benefit of ‘bad advice?’ My god you are pathetic. “

“FFS,” one asked, “Why must you still genuflect to the cult leader?”

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Tillis 'thrilled' over Trump calling him a loser: 'Makes me qualified to be DHS secretary'

Sen. Thom Tillis, one of the most vocal GOP critics of Donald Trump, said he was "thrilled" to be called a "loser" by the president over his criticism of Kristi Noem, quipping that it would make him "qualified to be DHS secretary."

Tillis was one of the first Republicans to join with a growing number of congressional Democrats in calling for the removal of Noem as Homeland Security Secretary. Criticism of Noem's handling of the department has intensified over the last few weeks, as ICE and CBP agents launched an enormous deportation surge in the Minnesota Twin Cities area, and reached a boiling point this weekend after federal agents shot and killed U.S. citizen Alex Pretti.

In the wake of that tragedy, more lawmakers in Washington than ever joined the call for Noem to step down from her position or be fired. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said that Democrats would pursue an impeachment inquiry against her if she were not removed.

Tillis, a North Carolina Republican, alongside fellow GOP Trump enemy, Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, were the first Republicans in Congress to publicly call for Noem's ouster over the handling of the Pretti situation. Tillis also called for the firing of Stephen Miller, one of Trump's closest advisers, known for his hardline anti-immigrant beliefs and heavy involvement in the administration's deportation efforts.

“I think what she’s done in Minnesota should be disqualifying,” Tillis told reporters on Tuesday. “It’s just amateurish. It’s terrible. It’s making the president look bad.”

In response, Trump took aim at Tillis and Murkowski in an ABC News interview on Wednesday, branding them as "losers."

“They’re terrible senators. One is gone, and the other should be gone,” Trump said. “What Murkowski says — she’s always against the Republicans anyway. And Tillis decided to drop out. So you know, he lost his voice once he did that.”

Speaking with CNN congressional correspondent Manu Raju, Tillis took a playful jab at the president's comment and said that he was "thrilled" to be called a loser.

“I am thrilled about that," Tillis said. "That makes me qualified to be homeland security secretary and senior adviser to the president.”

While Trump did order the removal of CBP commander Greg Bovino from his position on the ground leading immigration enforcement efforts in Minnesota, he has so far resisted calls to ditch Noem and Miller.

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Trump AG to beg Republicans for slush fund that GOP leaders call 'tyranny'

On Thursday, acting Attorney General Todd Blanche will meet with congressional Republicans to push for acceptance of the $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” settlement that has been widely criticized as a “slush fund” for J6ers. According to Bloomberg, Republicans have major questions about the fund, with some going so far as to call it “tyranny.”

Among these skeptical Republicans is Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD), who told reporters that Republicans want “an explanation of how it’s going to work,” saying, “We want to hear the Attorney General out about his view of this, and what they intend to do with that.” He noted that Republicans have “very legitimate questions” about the fund and want to “make sure that it’s fenced in appropriately.”

“Very legitimate questions” may be putting it lightly, as some senior GOP leaders are using harsher language to express their feelings on the matter.

“I think it’s stupid on stilts,” said Senator Thom Tillis (R-NC) Thursday morning. “It will invariably put us in a position where your taxpayer dollars and my taxpayer dollars could potentially compensate someone who assaulted a police officer, admitted their guilt, got convicted, got pardoned, and now we are going to pay them for that. That’s absurd. When you take money from me to give to a purpose that I vehemently disagree with, that's tyranny, and that's what that account is.” Later, as he entered the meeting with Blanche, Tillis referred to the fund as a “payout pot for punks.”

Meanwhile, there is a bipartisan effort underway to kill the fund. According to Politico, Representatives Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA) and Tom Suozzi (D-NY) have drafted text they will unveil soon. As Fitzpatrick explained, he and his constituents “don’t want a DOJ slush fund that has not been described or explained to anybody.”

The fight over the fund comes at a crucial moment for Republicans, who are wrangling over an already sky-high $72 billion budget they hope to submit to President Donald Trump by Friday. While the budget primarily focuses on Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection, an early draft indicates $1.457 billion for the Department of Justice — the cash necessary to cover the fund would more than double that.

If Republicans decide to balk at Blanche’s request, it will represent yet another funding setback for Trump. Earlier in the week, Senate Democrats successfully torpedoed a Republican attempt to secure tax dollars for Trump’s highly controversial ballroom project, the cost of which has ballooned from $400 million the president said would be covered by private donors, to as much as $1 billion that would be paid by taxpayers.

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Senior Republican issues ultimatum to Trump over J6 nominees

Senator Thom Tillis (R-NC) has a stern message for President Donald Trump: “Take me at my word when I say anybody who equivocated on the Jan. 6 rioters, I just can’t support.”

According to Politico, he’s referring to any potential candidates the White House may put forth to fill the attorney general role vacated by Pam Bondi’s firing in early April. Knowing that Trump has a propensity for nominating election deniers to key roles, this is Tillis’s latest effort to keep J6 insurrectionists out of government. A high-profile member of the Judiciary Committee where Republicans hold only a single vote advantage, there is extra power to his yay or nay as he can essentially veto any attorney general candidate.

Tillis has a track record of successfully opposing actions by the Trump administration. His latest such victory involved putting a stop to Trump’s politically motivated criminal investigation of Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell. As a member of the Senate Banking Committee, he held up the advancement of possible Powell successor Kevin Warsh for three months, agreeing on Wednesday to approve Warsh for a floor confirmation in exchange for dropping the probe against Powell, who has been targeted by Trump for months for refusing to lower federal interest rates.

After delivering his yes vote for Warsh, Tillis spoke out against the administration’s efforts to whitewash the January 6 attack, recounting his experience as the last senator to leave the chamber amidst the violence. He has previously blocked the nomination of Ed Martin for U.S. attorney general for his ties to and support for the insurrection.

When asked how he’ll proceed with nominees to replace Bondi, he said, “I’ll scrub it when a nominee comes forward, and I’ll apply the Martin standard.”

What’s more, when asked whether his fellow Republicans should take similar actions to block the administration’s actions, he seemed to urge his colleagues to follow his lead, saying, “Every single member of the conference has the same option.”

During the fight over Warsh, Tillis looped in the recent debate over Trump’s demand that the GOP nuke the filibuster. Tillis, like most senators, wants it to remain in place. “Then a simple majority would have been enough to discharge [Warsh] from committee,” Tillis said, explaining that such actions are done by consensus due to the filibuster.

While the majority of Republicans have shown an unwillingness to oppose the president out of fear of electoral retaliation, Tillis is uniquely positioned to stand against Trump as he will soon retire from the Senate, freeing him from political consequences. What’s more, his role on several key committees lends him a powerful hand in approving or holding the administration’s actions, and he has become increasingly vocal about his disagreements with the White House.

For his part, Trump has felt Tillis’s pressure, even musing that the latter had already left the Senate, telling Fox when asked about Tillis blocking Warsh, “You know Thom Tillis is no longer a senator, right? He quit.” Tillis’s response: “I’m not dead yet.”

Tillis has also pressed the administration to “recognize reality” and end the Department of Homeland Security shutdown, saying, “We own the shutdown right now because we can’t get the House to vote on something that 100 senators voted on. The American people are not dumb, and they know that the holdup now is not Democrats in the House. It’s Republicans.”

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The upside of Trump's betrayal of Senate Republicans

President Donald Trump has betrayed a number of Senate Republicans by endorsing their primary rivals. His political victims include Sens. John Cornyn of Texas, Thom Tillis of North Carolina and Bill Cassidy of Louisiana. In so doing, he aimed to replace those lawmakers with alternatives he views as more loyal. Yet as one political journalist pointed out, he has also liberated these same lawmakers to defy Trump with impunity now that they no longer face reelection.

This, he added, is why the first two men on that list helped tank Trump’s nomination of acting attorney general Todd Blanche to permanently assume his post.

“After Trump fired former AG Pam Bondi, Blanche—who had already been confirmed as deputy attorney general after serving as Trump’s personal defense attorney—stepped into the role in an acting capacity,” wrote Slate's Patrick Reis on Thursday. “He proceeded to even further facilitate Trump’s use of the Justice Department as a branch of the White House dedicated to punishing the president’s political opponents.”

He added, “That fealty was enough for Trump to nominate Blanche to the position permanently. In days gone by, that would have been a done deal: Republicans control the upper chamber responsible for advice and consent on Trump’s nominees and are far from fond of saying no to the president.”

Cornyn and Tillis reportedly objected to Blanche’s role in creating a $1.776 slush fund for his political supporters as well as a guaranteed protection from future IRS audits. When Blanche refused to swear in writing that the self-dealing agreement is no longer in effect, Cornyn and Tillis blanched on confirming him.

“Trump ended both Cornyn’s and Tillis’ political careers earlier this year by refusing to back them in their primaries,” Reis wrote. “(Cornyn lost to the mega-MAGA challenger Ken Paxton, Tillis just said To hell with this and retired.) Now that they have no careers to lose, Cornyn and Tillis suddenly find themselves more willing to defy the president.”

It is likely that Trump plans on simply renominating Blanche for the full-time job next year, when he hopes to retain control of the Senate and have Cornyn and Tillis replaced with more compliant substitutes.

“That plan could backfire, however, if Republicans lose the Senate in the midterms, or even if they see their margin get slimmer,” Reis pointed out. He added that voters can interpret this as meaning that “our Justice Department, which is supposed to have some modicum of independence from the White House, will continue to be run by someone who sees his job as satisfying Trump’s every whim,” since Blanche will retain his position in its acting capacity.

“And, as my colleague Jim Newell pointed out a few weeks ago, Trump’s ultimate leverage in getting Blanche confirmed is the threat to pick someone even worse,” Reis said. “Our Senate, on the other hand, is showing signs of becoming slightly less supine, though so far those are limited to Republicans with nothing left to lose.”

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Trump goes groveling to GOP enemies to save floundering nomination

As a key nomination flounders, Politico reported that the Trump administration has resorted to groveling for help from some of the president's biggest GOP enemies.

President Donald Trump is attempting to get Todd Blanche, his one-time personal attorney and the acting attorney general, confirmed by the Senate as the proper attorney general, but has so far encountered significant resistance. Concerns remain, even among Republicans, that Blanche is committed to going through Trump's contentious "slush fund" plan, and about how much he would actually keep the Justice Department independent from the White House. The latter worry was far from assuaged when, during a recent hearing, Blanche said, "I'm his lawyer," when pressed about his connections to Trump.

Now, Politico reported on Tuesday that the administration is attempting to start communications with two of Trump's most bitter GOP rivals, Sens. Thom Tillis and John Cornyn, in order to get them on board with confirming Blanche. Tillis, a North Carolina Republican, is retiring at the end of his current term and has been an outspoken Republican critic of Trump and his second-term appointees. Cornyn, a Texas Republican, was among the GOP lawmakers whose reelection bids were squashed by Trump endorsing primary challengers, making him even more strident in his opposition to the president with the time he has left.

"The Trump administration is engaging directly with Tillis and Cornyn’s aides as the North Carolina and Texas lawmakers continue to withhold firm commitments to voting to confirm attorney general nominee Todd Blanche in the Judiciary Committee — where a single 'no' vote on the GOP side of the aisle could tank his prospects," Politico detailed. "Tillis and Cornyn both confirmed the back-and-forth in interviews on Capitol Hill Monday evening, and a White House official, granted anonymity to speak candidly, also said in a statement that 'the Administration continues to have active conversations with members of the Senate Judiciary Committee.' It shows how the balance of power, at least in this high-stakes confirmation battle, has shifted for the two outgoing lawmakers — and how Cornyn and Tillis both know it."

“I know my staff have been in touch, almost, probably daily,” Tillis said, referring to communications between his office and the DOJ. “So they are acting. I mean, they’re following up in good faith.”

When pressed about potentially getting Blanche to agree to certain concessions, particularly as it pertains to the "slush fund" settlement, Cornyn said, "Well, does he want to get confirmed or not?" The senator also confirmed that he is negotiating with the administration over the settlement's provision that would shield Trump and his family from IRS audits in the future.

“Those are the issues we’re continuing to discuss with the administration to see whether we can get a modification of the settlement agreement,” Cornyn said.

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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."

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