By Richard Cowan and David Morgan
July 30 (Reuters) - President Donald Trump threatened on Thursday to withdraw until next year his nomination of Todd Blanche to serve as U.S. attorney general, escalating a standoff with Senate Republicans who have objected to a proposed "anti-weaponization" fund that could benefit his allies.
The dispute highlights Trump's weakening grip on a Congress controlled by his own party, but it does not affect the tenure of Blanche, who can continue to head the Justice Department
as acting attorney general.
Republican Senators John Cornyn and Thom Tillis have held up Blanche's nomination while seeking written assurances that the Justice Department will not set up the $1.8 billion "anti-weaponization" program. Trump critics have derided it as a slush fund to reward supporters with taxpayer money.
Trump said on social media that he could withdraw Blanche's nomination and then renominate him next year after Cornyn and Tillis have left office. Trump also claimed credit for ending the careers of the two senators.
"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," Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform. "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."
Cornyn and Tillis are due to end their terms in the Senate in early January.
Blanche, Trump's former personal lawyer, was named acting attorney general after the president fired Pam Bondi in April.
The stalemate over Blanche's nomination is the latest sign of a growing rupture between Trump and some Senate Republicans. The party faces the possibility of losing its 53-47 seat majority in the Senate in November's midterm elections, and some Republicans in the chamber have shown an increasing willingness to resist the president.
Republicans have turned away efforts to fund Trump's ballroom on the site of the demolished White House East Wing, and resisted his calls to change Senate rules to pass his partisan voter ID bill, the SAVE America Act.
Cornyn, who lost his primary reelection bid in Texas after Trump endorsed challenger Ken Paxton, told reporters that negotiations were likely over until next week. Tillis, who represents North Carolina, announced his retirement last year after clashing with Trump over Medicaid cuts in the president's sweeping tax cut and spending bill.
Cornyn and Tillis have been the public faces of opposition to Trump. But Cornyn said on social media that other senators share their concerns.
Blanche has also met with Republican Senator John Curtis of Utah to try to shore up support.
Blanche likely does not need to be confirmed to effectively serve as Trump's attorney general for the rest of his term as president. Acting officers can serve in their roles "for the period that the nomination is pending in the Senate," so long as their nomination is not formally rejected or withdrawn.
And as deputy attorney general, he can exercise all duties of the attorney general's office when that office is vacant. That means that so long as he is in that position, and there is no one above him, Blanche can likely run the Justice Department indefinitely.
WEAPONIZATION FUND IN DISPUTE
The "anti-weaponization" fund, crafted as part of a legal settlement between Trump and the Justice Department to resolve his $10 billion lawsuit against the IRS over allegedly mishandling his tax records, was put on hold amid opposition from Republicans in Congress.
The fund could benefit Trump allies who have said they were unfairly targeted in the past by the federal government for their involvement in the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. Trump last year gave clemency to his supporters who were prosecuted for their roles in the January 6 riot.
Cornyn told reporters earlier on Thursday that he was still waiting for the Justice Department to formalize assurances that it would not implement the fund.
"I don't know whether they think they can wait us out or we'll cave. But I can assure you we won't," Cornyn told reporters.
Cornyn and Tillis also have objections to a deal with the Internal Revenue Service that would prevent tax audits of Trump and his associates.
Trump ousted Bondi over his frustrations with her performance, especially over the release of files relating to the late financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Trump also felt Bondi was not moving quickly enough to prosecute critics and adversaries whom he wanted to face criminal charges, according to sources.
(Reporting by Richard Cowan in Washington and Bhargav Acharya and Ryan Patrick Jones in Toronto; Additional reporting by Dan Rosenzweig-Ziff; Writing by David Morgan; Editing by Andy Sullivan, Will Dunham and Susan Heavey)
