Todd Blanche is one Senate confirmation vote away from becoming the permanent Attorney General of the United States.
It will only take three Republican votes to kill his nomination.
John Kennedy watched the confirmation hearing and dropped a hint about Blanche’s fate that has Democrats hoping they misheard him.
Blanches Senate Judiciary Committee Gaffe Handed Democrats Their Best Clip
At Todd Blanche’s Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing, John Kennedy kept it simple when his turn came to question.
Kennedy asked Blanche whether he and President Trump were friends.
Blanche stumbled.
“I’m his lawyer – was his lawyer, and now I’m the deputy attorney general,” Blanche told the committee.
Democrats have spent months arguing Blanche serves Trump personally, not the Constitution.
Blanche handed them the clip they needed.
Kennedy wasn’t moved and predicted that Blanche would ultimately be confirmed.
“I don’t think any closed minded person can look at his resume and not conclude that” Blanche deserves to be confirmed, the Louisiana senator said.
“I don’t think my Democratic colleagues like him because he was appointed by President Trump and that upsets them because they wanted Vice President Harris to be President,” Kennedy told reporters.
Senate Democrats will vote as a bloc against Blanche – every single one of them.
That puts every Republican holdout under a microscope.
Cornyn Blocks Confirmation Over Anti-Weaponization Fund as Tillis Moves to Yes
With 52 GOP senators and Mitch McConnell not voting because of his illness, Republicans can absorb three no votes and still confirm Blanche on a Vance tiebreak.
The four Republicans who could provide those no votes are John Cornyn of Texas, Thom Tillis of North Carolina, Susan Collins of Maine, and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska.
Three of those four flipping kills the nomination.
Tillis drew a hard line: he would not vote for Blanche until Blanche met with Epstein survivors.
Blanche met with them.
Tillis has not committed his vote but signaled the meeting helped.
Cornyn has not moved.
His sticking point is the $1.776 billion “Anti-Weaponization Fund” Blanche created as part of an IRS lawsuit settlement with the Trump family.
Blanche told Congress the fund is dead.
Cornyn disagrees – he told reporters after the hearing that Blanche’s claim the fund was finished did not match his reading of the underlying settlement.
The agreement between Trump and the IRS remains an enforceable document.
Cornyn argues that without written consent from both parties to dissolve it, the fund can be revived at any time.
Kennedy pointed to a district court ruling that already struck down the related IRS settlement on Trump’s tax audits.
“There were a lot of other questions by my Democratic friends about the settlement of the President’s audits, but that settlement agreement has been struck down by the district court,” Kennedy said.
He is not betting on an appeal to save it.
The White House is now negotiating directly with Cornyn and Tillis – working their aides, cutting whatever deal locks in both votes before the window closes.
Why Kennedy Expects Blanche to Be Confirmed as Attorney General
Kennedy did not announce his vote – he did something more telling.
For him to vote no, Kennedy said something would have to be “demonstrated” proving Blanche is unqualified – and he has seen nothing that clears it.
A senator who has already decided to vote no does not spend his press interview raising the bar for what would change his mind.
Kennedy is betting Blanche gets through – and lame-duck senators with nothing left to lose rarely band together to hand Democrats a win.
Republicans need the vote closed before Congress breaks for the August recess, and that deadline is quickly approaching.
The attorney general controls the Justice Department, the FBI, the DEA, and 93 U.S. Attorneys posted across every state in the country.
Democrats spent years turning that apparatus against Trump, his allies, and the Americans who voted for him.
Blanche has been dismantling it since taking over as acting AG in April.
All four holdouts voting together to stop that – right before they all walk out the door – is the only scenario Democrats win.
Kennedy does not think they have the nerve.
Sources:
- Myles Morell, “Todd Blanche Faces A Difficult Confirmation Process – Senator John Kennedy Defends Blanche,” The Gateway Pundit, July 22, 2026.
- Staff, “Todd Blanche faces Senate Judiciary Committee in confirmation hearing,” Fox News, July 15, 2026.
