Trump Lashes Out At Cornyn For Holding Up AG Confirmation.#@@
A number of establishment Republicans were defeated in their primaries earlier this year, losing to candidates backed by President Donald Trump. And now that their days in Congress are numbered, they appear to be taking their wrath out on the president. Trump said Friday that Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, is delaying the confirmation of Todd Blanche as attorney general because of Trump’s endorsement of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in the state’s Republican U.S. Senate primary. Cornyn, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee whose support is considered important to advancing Blanche’s nomination, has declined to back the nomination until he receives written assurances from the Justice Department that a disputed fund will be rescinded and that the scope of an IRS audit immunity provision included in a settlement agreement will be narrowed, according to ABC News.
Speaking during a Cabinet meeting at Camp David on Friday, Trump accused Cornyn of using Blanche’s nomination as leverage in retaliation for the president’s endorsement of Paxton during the closely watched Senate primary. “Todd Blanche is a very, very good man, and he shouldn’t be in the middle of this. He should get approved because you will never get anybody like him,” Trump told reporters. “You’re never going to get anybody. And to make him a pawn on this whole thing,” Trump went on. “This is being done by a senator. And I don’t really blame him, to be honest with you,” Trump continued. “I endorsed his opponent, and as soon as I endorsed his opponent, his opponent went through the roof, and he won the primary election in Texas for the Senate,” he added.
.@POTUS: "Todd Blanche is a very, very good man, and he shouldn't be in the middle of this. He should get approved — because you will never get anybody like him." pic.twitter.com/t0RmA4Wfbu
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) July 31, 2026
Trump added that Cornyn, who has served in the Senate for over two decades, “became very angry” after his defeat. The president went on to point out that Cornyn didn’t oppose Blanche earlier this year when he named him to replace outgoing AG Pam Bondi, but that his opposition only began after Trump endorsed Paxton.
.@POTUS on @DAGToddBlanche: "He should be approved forthwith… Don't forget: Senator Cornyn thought he was phenomenal — until he lost." https://t.co/wOs31lhyIi pic.twitter.com/pCn2NE5ngo
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) July 31, 2026
Trump’s Defense of Blanche and Fund Purpose
.@POTUS: “Todd Blanche is a very, very good man, and he shouldn’t be in the middle of this. He should get approved – because you will never get anybody like him.” pic.twitter.com/t0RmA4Wfbu – Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) July 31, 2026 .@POTUS on @DAGToddBlanche: “He should be approved forthwith… Don’t forget: Senator Cornyn thought he was phenomenal – until he lost.” https://t.co/wOs31lhyIi pic.twitter.com/pCn2NE5ngo “Don’t forget, Senator Cornyn thought he was phenomenal until he lost… I mean, he thought this was the most incredible person,” he said. Trump also said the fund would be for “people that have been weaponized” and that he does not “want anything.” “There’s essentially never been a group of people treated so badly as these people, and this fund, this fund was not for me,” he said. “This fund was for those people that have been weaponized, that have been abused,” he added.
What began as an effort to resolve claims over the disclosure of confidential tax records has instead evolved into a broader confrontation over the limits of executive authority and the role of the federal courts. The administration on Friday appealed a federal judge’s decision rejecting a proposed settlement in Trump’s lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service stemming from the unauthorized disclosure of his tax returns. U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams of Florida, an Obama appointee, rejected the proposed resolution and issued a sharply critical opinion questioning both the purpose of the lawsuit and the structure of the settlement agreement.
IRS Lawsuit and Settlement Details
Trump filed the lawsuit after former IRS contractor Charles Littlejohn admitted to illegally leaking the former president’s tax information and later pleaded guilty in federal court to charges related to the disclosure. Earlier this year, the Department of Justice and the IRS reached a proposed settlement intended to resolve the litigation, including an agreement establishing what was described as an anti-weaponization fund for Jan. 6 defendants persecuted by the Biden administration This article may contain commentary which reflects the author’s opinion.