Senator Thom Tillis did not exactly respond with statesmanlike calm after President Trump moved to keep Todd Blanche on track for Attorney General. Instead, the North Carolina Republican lashed out as Trump made clear he was not about to let Senate games bury a nominee he strongly supports, as reported [1] by The Gateway Pundit.
Trump announced Thursday that he was prepared to work around Senators John Cornyn of Texas and Thom Tillis of North Carolina after they helped stall Blanche’s confirmation path. The move came after the Senate Judiciary Committee delayed a key vote that had been expected to advance Blanche’s nomination.
The committee had been scheduled to vote Thursday morning, but Chairman Chuck Grassley postponed the markup after Cornyn and Tillis demanded additional assurances from the Department of Justice. Their concern centered on language connected to restrictions involving the Trump IRS settlement.
That was enough to halt momentum, at least for the moment, and hand the anti-Trump press another Beltway process story to chew on. But Trump, who has seen this movie before, quickly signaled that he had no intention of letting two unreliable Republicans dictate the future of his Justice Department team.
The president floated the possibility of temporarily withdrawing Blanche’s nomination until Cornyn and Tillis are out of office. Blanche, Trump noted, would remain in place as acting Attorney General regardless, which rather neatly punctures the drama from the Senate obstruction crowd.
“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.”
“However, John Cornyn, of Texas, and Thom Tillis, of North Carolina, both of whom I refused to Endorse, and whose political careers have been ended by my action, are refusing to vote for this Great Nominee, who will remain, in any event, as Acting.”
“Remember, both Cornyn and Tillis voted for Merrick Garland, and others, too numerous to mention.”
“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. President DONALD J. TRUMP”
Trump Calls Todd Blanche a “STAR” and Threatens to Pull His AG Nomination Over Cornyn and Tillis
President Trump posted a strong defense of Todd Blanche on Truth Social this morning, calling him a STAR with the potential to become one of the Greatest Attorney Generals of All… pic.twitter.com/HVGq5NpNE9 [3]
— Paul A. Szypula (@Bubblebathgirl) July 30, 2026 [4]
That last point is the one that will sting the most for many conservatives. Cornyn and Tillis had no problem supporting Merrick Garland, the man who presided over one of the most politicized Justice Departments in modern memory, yet now they suddenly discover their inner gatekeepers when Trump wants Blanche confirmed.
Tillis later complained to CNN’s Manu Raju, giving the establishment press exactly the sort of quote it loves when Republicans fight Republicans. “The president’s getting bad advice. He should listen to Blanche and others who think if it’s dead, it should be rendered completely dead,” Tillis said.
That answer sounded less like a serious constitutional argument and more like a senator irritated that Trump found a way around the blockade. For voters who sent Republicans to Washington to stop the weaponized government machine, the spectacle is painfully familiar.
Tillis also went after a Trump adviser whom he claimed wanted to revive the so-called weaponization fund issue. That is rich coming from a senator whose own posture here appears tailor-made to please the same political class that spent years pretending the Biden Justice Department was perfectly normal.
Cornyn and Tillis reportedly met with Blanche on Thursday and were said to be “very near a resolution,” according to PunchBowl News. If so, that may be because Trump’s pressure campaign reminded everyone involved that grassroots conservatives are not interested in another Senate slow walk.
Blanche has been one of Trump’s most visible legal allies, and his nomination matters far beyond Washington résumé polishing. For the America First base, the Justice Department needs people who understand what was done to Trump, his supporters, and ordinary Americans caught in the crossfire of political prosecutions.
Trump’s workaround was classic Trump, direct, disruptive, and impossible for the usual Senate managers to ignore. He put Cornyn and Tillis on notice, reminded the base of their Garland votes, and made it clear Blanche would not simply be sacrificed to committee theater.
For Tillis, the angry response only confirmed why so many conservatives distrust him. When Trump pushes back against obstruction, the senator runs to the cameras and scolds the president about bad advice, which is exactly the kind of Beltway performance voters are tired of funding.
The Blanche confirmation battle is now about more than one nominee. It is about whether Senate Republicans will help Trump staff his administration with fighters or keep playing procedural games while the left laughs from the cheap seats.