Fetterman on Blanche Confirmation: ‘Trump Has Zero Leverage’

The road to 👤Todd Blanche’s confirmation as ⚖️Attorney general may be a bumpy one.

That’s according to Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) who said Friday that may not have the influence needed to get the job done.

Republican Sens. Thom Tillis (N.C.), 👤Bill Cassidy (La.) and 👤John Cornyn (Texas) have all been skeptical about Blanche’s nomination amid questioned the status of a controversial “anti-weaponization fund” created under his watch. 

“I don’t see him being confirmed at least certainly through the end of the year, honestly,” Fetterman told CNN’s Kasie Hunt on Friday. “Trump has zero leverage, whether it’s Cornyn or Cassidy or Tillis or these senators that are leaving.”

Tillis and Cornyn have the votes required to advance Blanche’s nomination out of the Senate Judiciary Committee. The acting ⚖️Attorney general can lose only one Republican vote. 

During a confirmation hearing before the committee in July, Blanche told lawmakers the nearly $2 billion fund was “dead.”

Cornyn told reporters outside he was not satisfied with the administration official’s testimony about the status of the fund. 

He said changes to the settlement agreement that created the fund requires “written consent of the parties.” This has yet to have been met. 

“I think it’s really important to correct the record, which I tried to do, and I think he was straightforward in answering my questions, but they don’t lead inevitably to the conclusion that it’s dead,” he told reporters July 15. “It could be revived at a future date.”

If Blanche’s nomination makes it to the Senate floor, Blanche will need the support of all but two GOP senators.

Sen. Mitch McConnell’s(R-Ky.) absence also complicates matters.

“The math’s just not there, and there’s certainly not any Democrats that’s going to support this,” Fetterman said Friday afternoon. 

Trump said Thursday that he would possibly rescind Blanche’s nomination until Cornyn and Tillis are out of office in January. 

Cornyn pointed out that their absence would not guarantee Blanchr would have a better chance, telling reporters a Democrat could fill his seat in November. 

“I mean, he may think that he’s got us where he wants us,” Cornyn said. “But the fact is, there’s no guarantee who the senators are going to be that will replace Sen. Tillis and myself, and he may have a weaker hand next year than he does now, and it’s unfortunate because we tried not to escalate this fight.”