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Senate Judiciary advances Todd Blanche nomination as attorney general
The committee vote came after two hours of debate tied to a previously proposed US$1.8 billion Anti-Weaponisation Fund and IRS audit limits involving Trump and his family.
US senators advanced Donald Trump’s former personal lawyer Todd Blanche toward attorney general after he formally scrapped a controversial US$1.8 billion fund created through a Trump administration settlement, according to SCMP Economy.
Blanche, who became deputy attorney general after Trump took office, has been serving as acting attorney general since Pam Bondi resigned in April.
The closely watched Senate Judiciary Committee vote passed along party lines after two hours of debate, with Republicans supporting and Democrats opposing by a 12-10 margin.
SCMP Economy reports the debate also centered on Blanche’s ties to Trump and an earlier proposed “Anti-Weaponisation Fund,” which Republicans had said they would challenge unless he dismantled the fund and narrowed an agreement limiting Internal Revenue Service audits of Trump and his family. The fund was linked to the administration’s settlement of a lawsuit over alleged leaking of Trump’s tax records. Critics had warned the arrangement could end up benefiting Trump allies, including people charged in connection with the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol.