The Senate Judiciary Committee killed a Thursday vote on Todd Blanche’s attorney general nomination. It’s not a rejection. It’s a delay. And it reveals exactly how messy the new administration’s early days are getting behind the scenes.
Blanche is currently acting AG. He needs a permanent seat. But he doesn’t have the votes.
Specifically, he’s stuck with two Republican senators who won’t budge: Thom Tillis from North Carolina and John Cornyn from Texas. Both men lost their re-election bids in this year’s Republican primaries. President Trump had actively backed their opponents in those races. Now, they hold the cards.
What do they want?
Written assurances. Concrete promises in ink. They demand that the Department of Justice explicitly state it will not proceed with a $1.76 billion fund to compensate Trump supporters involved in the January 6 Capitol riots. They also want a permanent pledge barring the IRS from ever investigating the President’s tax returns.
Blanche won’t give those guarantees. The committee is stalled.
Chairman Grassley works to set President Trump’s nominated nominees up for success in committee. Not failure.
Chuck Grassley’s spokesperson framed the postponement as strategic rather than fatal. They claim work continues to secure enough support to “favorably report” Blanche. Grassley says the nominee is “highly qualified.” The Senate disagrees.
Democratic lawmakers are piling on. Robert Garcia, the senior Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, issued a blistering statement. He argues Blanche is “too corrupt and untrustworthy” to get past the finish line.
“He went from being Trump’s personal lawyer to orchestrating billion-dollar slush funds,” Garcia said. He and Senate Judiciary ranking member Dick Durbin are pushing hard to reject the nomination. They point to Blanche’s handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files and his role in moving Ghislaine Maxwell to minimum-security prison. The demand for Blanche’s withdrawal is getting louder.
Iran Escalation and Nuclear Ambitions
While the confirmation drama plays out, the geopolitical situation is heating up. The US has resumed airstrikes in Iran.
After a several-day lull in direct attacks, Donald Trump told reporters in the Oval Office, “We’re going to be hitting them very hard… because it’s our turn.” The military described the strikes as a “powerful response” to Iranian missiles fired at US forces in Jordan. This marks Iran’s first regional attack since the fighting paused.
The fallout is spreading. The US partnered with Saudi Arabia to target Tehran-backed militias in Iraq. At least 20 fighters and six Iranian advisors were killed. Meanwhile, drone strikes ignited fires on two vessels at the Egyptian port of Damietta. Ambrey, a UK maritime security firm, confirmed the hits on a US-owned storage facility and a Greek tanker. No injuries were reported, but who fired those drones remains unclear.
Amidst this tension, Senate Republicans voted as a bloc to advance 71 of Trump’s nominees. This includes P. Wells Griffith, heading to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna as ambassador. Griffith, a former Trump aide, refused to testify during the first impeachment inquiry. His posting is critical; the IAEA verifies nuclear compliance. If Trump tries to cut a new deal with Iran after the current conflict ends, Griffith will be in the room.
Political Whims and Symbolic Resolutions
The Senate also passed a unanimous resolution opposing any pardon for Ghislaine Maxwell. The convicted sex trafficker, who served 20 years for her work with Jeffrey Epstein, is off-limits to clemency, according to the measure introduced by Democrat Jacky Rosen.
The resolution is non-binding. Symbolic. But it sends a message. “It’s frankly horrifying that Trump would entertain the slightest idea of clemency,” Rosen said. She noted the passage happens as the Senate weighs Blanche’s confirmation. It’s a clear “NO” to special treatment.
And then there’s the culture war stuff. Barack Obama dropped a new ad endorsing Iowa Democrat Josh Turek for the Senate. The ad features the former president shooting hoops with Turek, a two-time Paralympic wheelchair basketball gold medalist. They’re playing a game of “I-O-W-A.” It’s a nod to Obama’s time installing a basketball hoop on the White House lawn—a move Donald Trump mocked recently while reading a children’s book on a podcast.
Trump spent the episode fixated on Obama’s middle name, repeating it 60 times in the last six months alone. He even tried to turn “Hussein” into a slur. When the Second Lady, Usha Vance, questioned his claim about Obama’s golf skills, he fired back a remark with “perhaps racist undertones.” It’s the same play. Just louder now.
Marjorie Taylor Greene got married in Las Vegas on Tuesday. Her new husband is Brian Glenn, a former “Maga mouthpiece” who was cast out of the White House press pack by Trump. Glenn quit after opposing the release of Epstein files and criticizing the 2025 bombing of Iran.
Glenn used to sit in the Oval Office, fielding partisan questions for Trump. He once asked President Zelenskyy why he wasn’t wearing a suit. Now, Glenn is gone. In his place are a new crop of loyalist correspondents, eager to defend the President’s agenda.
Greene’s marriage to an exile from the inner circle feels like a period on a very strange sentence. Or maybe just a comma.
The vote on Blanche is delayed. The strikes on Iran are ongoing. The Senate is passing resolutions it knows won’t become law. Nothing is settled.
