Sen. Thom Tillis is leaning toward confirming Todd Blanche but has set firm conditions: he wants clear proof the Justice Department will remain independent from the White House and a permanent end to the so-called 1776 fund before he casts a final vote.

Sen. Thom Tillis told CNN he carries a “positive predisposition” toward confirming Todd Blanche as attorney general, but he attached clear strings: any sign the Justice Department lacks independence from the White House, he warned, could cost Blanche his vote. The comments came days before Blanche’s confirmation hearings on July 15 and 16, where Tillis will have a seat at the table as a Judiciary Committee member. Not seeking reelection, Tillis is speaking bluntly in a way colleagues still campaigning often do not.

Tillis has shown he will slow-walk nominees when principle demands it, using procedural leverage rather than grandstanding. He held up Kevin Warsh’s confirmation while the DOJ investigated former Fed chair Jerome Powell and lifted that hold only after the probe ended. That precedent matters now because it signals Tillis will press for concrete assurances, not just promises.

On the merits, Tillis said Blanche is a “very competent attorney” and that a recent meeting left him impressed with Blanche’s vision for the Justice Department. On X, Tillis that it was “good.” He followed up with a clear, measured compliment that keeps the door open while reserving judgment.

“I appreciated the opportunity to hear his vision for the Department of Justice and discuss the important work that lies ahead.”

Even so, Tillis warned that “even a whiff” the DOJ lacked independence “could influence” his vote, and he made plain that vague assurances won’t cut it. Blanche’s prior role as President Trump’s personal attorney raises understandable questions about institutional distance, and critics on the left will press that point hard. Republicans like Tillis frame this as a matter of preserving the department’s credibility, not scoring partisan points.

Tillis’s sharpest demand targets the so-called “1776 fund,” which he calls a dangerous distraction because it could end up benefiting people who assaulted officers on Jan. 6. He wants the administration to go beyond saying the fund is “inoperative” and to take binding steps to ensure it cannot be resurrected. For a senator who backed law enforcement in the wake of the Capitol attack, that is a principled red line.

https://x.com/SenThomTillis/status/2070236839189807466

“Right now, I’m confident in what we see with Blanche if we can address these distractions that have to get off the table before his confirmation, particularly the 1776 fund.”

Tillis pressed the White House to make the fund’s demise permanent, not merely verbal. “Let’s just put it away. The president, the acting attorney general, others in the administration said that they have determined it’s inoperative, they’re not going to move forward with it. Let’s make it inoperative.” That exact phrasing signals he wants a document or formal action to match public statements.

“Let’s just put it away. The president, the acting attorney general, others in the administration said that they have determined it’s inoperative, they’re not going to move forward with it. Let’s make it inoperative.”

Tillis has drawn similar lines before and enforced them when needed. He told colleagues he would not support an attorney general who equivocated about Jan. 6, and he has used holds selectively to press for answers. That mix of firmness and willingness to resolve things rather than drag fights out defines his approach.

That posture reflects a broader pattern in the Senate GOP this year: pushback on nominees when institutional norms are at stake, followed by negotiated fixes that produce confirmations. Tillis’s Warsh hold showed he is prepared to extract concessions, but also to step aside when problems are fixed. The current timeline makes his demands urgent for both Blanche and the White House.

Todd Blanche steps into July’s hearings as acting attorney general with a résumé that includes serving as the president’s personal attorney, a fact Democrats will use to press him on independence. Tillis credited Blanche as “one of the key reasons” the DOJ dropped its criminal investigation of Powell, framing that move as evidence of sound judgment without offering an unconditional endorsement. The senator wants concrete, formal commitments on both the 1776 fund and departmental autonomy.

Several questions will matter at the hearing: what specific pledges Blanche made in private, whether the administration will take binding action to dismantle the 1776 fund, and whether Blanche can persuade skeptical senators that DOJ will act purely as a law enforcement agency. How those questions are answered will determine whether Tillis’s positive predisposition becomes a definitive yes or remains conditional heading into the vote.