Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche cleared a key hurdle Tuesday in his bid for Senate confirmation, winning approval from the Senate Judiciary Committee after persuading Republican holdouts to support his nomination.
The committee voted 12-10 along party lines to advance Blanche's nomination to the full Senate. Blanche, President Donald Trump's former personal attorney, has served as acting attorney general since April, when he succeeded Pam Bondi.
The vote came after a deal reached late Sunday with Republican Sens. John Cornyn of Texas and Thom Tillis of North Carolina, who had threatened to oppose the nomination over the settlement of Trump's lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service involving the disclosure of the president's tax returns.
Cornyn and Tillis backed Blanche after the Justice Department confirmed in writing that it would not move forward with a proposed $1.8 billion fund to compensate Trump allies who say they were prosecuted for political reasons. The administration had previously announced the fund as part of the settlement.