代理司法部长托德・布兰奇提名角逐下一任美国司法部长，参议院司法委员会将于周四举行关键表决。
然而两名共和党参议员 —— 得克萨斯州的约翰・科宁、北卡罗来纳州的汤姆・蒂利斯表示，布兰奇尚未提供令他们满意的答复，暂时无法投票支持这项提名。
两名关键共和党议员的核心分歧集中在“反武器化基金”的最终去向，同时他们要求修改特朗普与美国国税局达成的和解协议，该基金正是这份协议的组成部分。
今年 5 月，特朗普宣布设立规模 17.76 亿美元的专项基金，用于补偿那些声称在拜登政府时期遭到政府不当打压的民众。作为交换条件，特朗普同意撤回针对国税局的 100 亿美元诉讼。该诉讼缘起于他第一任期税务信息遭到未经授权泄露，一名国税局前承包商已于 2023 年就此认罪。
和解协议公布次日，时任特朗普刑事辩护律师的布兰奇签署协议补充条款，禁止联邦政府继续对特朗普、其家人及其旗下企业提交的纳税申报表开展任何审计。
这项安排引发外界利益输送指控，两党议员普遍强烈反对：纳税人资金有可能被用于向 2021 年 1 月 6 日冲击国会大厦的骚乱参与者发放补偿金。
在 7 月 15 日布兰奇的提名听证会上，科宁多次指出，创设该基金的原始和解协议至今没有正式废止。布兰奇对此予以承认，但同时表示，司法部愿意通过某种立法形式作出书面保证，打消参议员顾虑，确保该基金不会落地实施。
科宁周一在参议院场外对记者表示：“我想要一份书面文件，内容和他在司法委员会宣誓证词保持一致。大家还记得，他当时明确表态：反武器化基金就此作废;审计豁免权原则上不能延伸至诉讼之外的第三方，同时不适用于国税局以外其他联邦机构未来采取的行动。”
“我们只是希望美方落实上述承诺，这原本就是他宣誓作证所说的内容。既然他已经当庭宣誓确认，我实在不理解政府为何迟迟不愿落实成书面文件。”
科宁的团队一直在和白宫磋商，争取修订国税局这份和解协议。但科宁称，司法部没有作出充分承诺，修改书面协议文本，使之和布兰奇的证词保持统一。
今年初，科宁在党内初选中败给特朗普支持的候选人。当被问及，如果得不到上述书面承诺，是否意味着布兰奇周四无法指望他的一票时，科宁明确回应：“没错。”
蒂利斯同样表示，尚未准备好投票支持布兰奇提名。他周一告诉记者，自己同样在等待国税局和解协议作出修改。
Todd Blanche’s AG prospects uncertain as 2 key GOP votes hold out
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche faces a key vote in the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday in his quest to become the next U.S. attorney general.
However, two Republican senators -- John Cornyn of Texas and Thom Tillis of North Carolina -- have said they still don't have everything they need from Blanche in order to vote in favor of his nomination.
The issue for the key Republican senators continues to be the uncertain future of the "Anti-Weaponization Fund" and outstanding changes they want to see made to President Donald Trump's IRS settlement agreement that the fund was part of.
Trump in Mayannouncedthe $1.776 billion fund to compensate those who allege they were wrongly targeted under the Biden administration, in exchange for Trump agreeing to drop his $10 billion suit against the IRS over the unauthorized disclosure of his tax information during his first term, for which a former IRS contractorpleaded guilty in 2023.
The day after the settlement was announced, Blanche, who was formerly Trump's criminal defense attorney, signed an addendum to the settlement that would bar the government from continuing any existing audits of tax returns filed by Trump, his family and their companies.
The arrangement sparked accusations of self-dealing and abipartisan uproarover the possible use of taxpayer money to pay rioters who attacked the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
In Blanche's confirmation hearing on July 15, Cornyn repeatedly noted that the original settlement that first established the fund has still yet to be formally rescinded. While Blanche acknowledged that, he also said the Department of Justice would be fine with codifying in some way to assure senators the fund would not move forward.
"What I want is the written document to say the same thing he did in his sworn testimony in front of the Judiciary Committee, and, as you recall, what he said is the weaponization fund is dead. He said the audit immunity basically doesn't extend to parties beyond the lawsuit, and it doesn't also extend to future actions by federal agencies other than the IRS," Cornyn told reporters off the Senate floor on Monday.
"That's what we're trying to get them to agree to, which is again what his sworn testimony was. So I don't know why they're -- I don't know why they're so reluctant to do that when he's already sworn to it," he added.
Cornyn's comments come as his team has been in discussions with the administration to amend the IRS settlement agreement; however, Cornyn said the Department of Justice has not made a sufficient commitment to change the written document to align with Blanche's testimony.
When asked if it is safe to assume that Blanche should not count on his vote on Thursday unless he receives those commitments in writing, Cornyn, who lost his primary to a Trump-backed candidate earlier this year, said, "That is correct."
Tillis also said he wasn't ready to commit to voting for Blanche's nomination, telling reporters Monday that he, too, is still waiting to see changes made to the IRS settlement.
