Republican Reversal: Blanche Nom Back On?
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
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It's Tuesday, August 4th. Sometimes putting something in writing makes all the difference. We start here. Two Republican holdouts now say they will vote to confirm Todd Blanch as Attorney General.
There was a dam break in these negotiations.
But it's not quite a done deal. Ukraine brings the fight to the Russian people. It is affecting the everyday life of normal Russians. But the latest Ukrainian strikes tell us about the state of the war. And flooding can be devastating, especially for those who don't have insurance.
Just because you're outside of a special flood hazard zone, as deemed by FEMA, does not mean that you won't flood.
Now, a common misunderstanding is costing some flood victims thousands. From ABC News, this is Start Here. I'm Mike Daboski. Hey there, happy Tuesday. Brad's still out on vacation, but I've got you covered in the meantime. For weeks now, Acting Attorney General Todd Blanch has had a problem. He didn't have enough votes to get him out of the Senate Judiciary Committee, meaning he's had to wear that acting title while conducting the normal business of AG. The reason for the confirmation holdup ultimately goes back to that $1.8 billion anti-weaponization fund, which the Department of Justice had pitched as a way to pay out people who claim to have been victimized by the government in some way. The idea drew immediate pushback from both Democrats and Republicans, and ultimately Blanch said the idea had been shelved.
I believe you have said that the weaponization fund is a moot issue. Is that your position? Yes, it is a moot issue, meaning there is no weaponization fund. The weaponization fund is dead.
But that wasn't enough for Republican Senators John Cornyn and Tom Tillis, who said they wanted that in writing, and to clarify an arrangement that had shielded President Trump from facing further IRS audits. What it covers, the weaponization fund, the audit protections, and who's released in the lawsuit.
Why did two Republican senators reverse course on Todd Blanche’s confirmation?
Well, yesterday, those two senators got their wish. Let's bring in ABC's Ali Pokorin to explain more. Ali, what a difference a weekend makes. Walk us through what happened here.
There was a dam break in these negotiations over the weekend after things started to seem like they really weren't getting anywhere. We saw Acting Attorney General Blanche post these two orders on his social media late Sunday evening. And those two orders seemed to address these two issues you outlined that Senators Cornyn and Tillis had a big hang up on. Let's start with the anti-weaponization fund. You'll remember President Trump struck an agreement with the IRS to settle a lawsuit that he had brought against the IRS. And one of the things that came out of that lawsuit was the establishment of this $1.8 billion so-called anti-weaponization fund. The idea being that individuals who this administration alleged were wronged by the Biden administration or individuals who felt they had been wronged by the Biden administration's Department of Justice could seek to be paid out of this fund to make up for things that they might have lost under those previous prosecutions.
These people were treated horribly. And this fund could have given them some solace.
Now, that fund was wildly unpopular on Capitol Hill. Republicans did not like it. Quite a few Republicans, not just the moderates that we are often focusing in on here, really didn't like that fund. And so though Todd Blanchett previously stated that the fund was not going forward, Cornyn and Tillis said, no, we got to see that in writing. We need to see that formally rescinded in writing. And so one of the things that Blanche did late Sunday night was put that in writing and say the fund has been rescinded and is not going forward.
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Chapters
4 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:00–2:36
2
Why did two Republican senators reverse course on Todd Blanche’s confirmation?
2:36–8:31
3
What were the anti-weaponization fund and why did it block Blanche’s confirmation?
8:31–20:50
4
How did Blanche’s written orders address senators’ concerns about IRS audit protections?
20:50–29:46