Thune: ‘Hard to say’ whether Blanche can win confirmation as attorney general

By Sarah Ferris, Manu Raju, CNN

(CNN) — Hours after President Donald Trump nominated Todd Blanche to permanently lead the DOJ, the top Senate Republican could not say whether Blanche could survive a nomination fight on Capitol Hill.

Asked about whether Blanche would have difficulty being confirmed, Senate Majority Leader John Thune said it was “hard to say.”

“I think obviously most of our members are pretty deferential to who the president wants in these key positions. He’s already serving in the role already, and clearly has experience in it,” Thune said. “But this is an environment where nothing is a safe or sure bet.”

The comments come the morning after President Donald Trump announced at a private dinner at the White House that he intended to nominate Blanche – who was installed as acting attorney general after Pam Bondi was fired – to the role permanently. In a video Trump adviser Dan Scavino posted a video on X, Trump noted the confirmation process was “complicated” but predicted it would play out “very quickly.”

Blanche is Trump’s firebrand former personal attorney who had been serving as the No. 2 Justice Department official before Bondi’s firing. The president has repeatedly lauded him, and his securing of indictments of some of Trump’s political opponents – like former FBI director James Comey – have helped him win favor in the White House.

But his tenure has also seen controversy. Bondi recently testified that Blanche was in charge of the department’s handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files – which created a significant political headache for the White House. His expected nomination also comes in midst of a GOP revolt over the proposed $1.776 billion “anti-weaponization” fund to compensate people who say they were wrongly prosecuted by the government.

Blanche said Thursday he was “honored and humbled” by Trump’s saying he would nominate him, and he vowed to work with lawmakers to get through the confirmation process.

“I will work with the senators. I have a good relationship with the Senate on both sides. I don’t say no to phone calls. I’ll meet with anybody that wants to meet with me,” he said.

Thune said Blanche would now go to the Senate Judiciary Committee, where “they’ll have to go through a normal confirmation process.”

But it’s unclear whether Blanche has enough votes to get out of committee.

Sen. Thom Tillis, who is on the committee and has been a roadblock to other Trump nominees, told CNN he would oppose Blanche if he equivocates on condemning the Jan. 6, 2021 riot at the Capitol.

“I don’t vote for people just because I like them. I vote for them because they meet my criteria. One of my criteria is no equivocation on January 6,” Tillis said.

The North Carolina Republican said he thought passing legislation to eliminate Trump’s “anti-weaponization” fund would improve Blache’s chances – but a confirmation hearing could be complicated if the future of the fund is still being debated.

“If this is still out there, can you imagine what the Democrats are going to do to that man during a confirmation hearing? Can you imagine how that could potentially influence a couple of our members? We take this off the table, Todd’s chances of becoming confirmed as the AG go up,” he said.

Asked if he could support confirming Blanche if the Senate does not completely kill the fund, Tillis said, “We’re looking at it. I haven’t made a decision yet.”

Another of the committee members, GOP Sen. John Cornyn, told CNN’s Manu Raju on Thursday morning that he remains undecided about whether he’ll vote for Blanche.

“I’m looking forward to the process. I’ve got some questions for him. Being attorney general is probably one of the hardest jobs in the cabinet because you’re working for the president, but you’re also supposed to be able to tell the president no, as the lead lawyer for the country. So need to talk about that,” Cornyn told CNN.

“I’m going to let the process work out.”

This story has been updated with additional reporting.

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CNN’s Hannah Rabinowitz contributed to this report.