The Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday advanced Todd Blanche’s nomination as attorney general to the Senate, which could hold a vote to confirm him as early as this week.

The panel approved Blanche’s nomination on a 12-10 party-line vote, after he managed to assuage the concerns of two key Republican committee members about President Donald Trump’s so-called anti-weaponization fund and the terms of his protection from Internal Revenue Service audits of his previous tax returns.

Republican Sens. John Cornyn of Texas and Thom Tillis of North Carolina overcame their misgivings about Blanche over Trump’s deal with the IRS to settle his lawsuit against the agency for leaking his tax information.

But at least one Senate Republican is still expressing concerns about the nomination after Blanche helped secure a $1.8 billion fund to compensate people who claim to have been unfairly prosecuted by the federal government.

Republicans can only afford to lose two votes with Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., currently not voting. At least three Republican senators haven’t said how they will vote: Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Bill Cassidy of Louisiana and Susan Collins of Maine.

For Todd Blanche to be confirmed, Senate Republicans can only afford to lose two votes with Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., currently not voting.

Following the committee vote, Murkowski told a NOTUS reporter that she is “going to have to have a few more conversations” with Blanche before casting her vote.

But Sen. John Curtis, R-Utah, whose vote had been unclear, said he had had a “robust” discussion with Blanche and would vote for him, saying he appreciated his “receptivity and understanding of the issues raised.”

Democrats aren’t letting up, however.

Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, the top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, criticized Blanche before the Tuesday vote.

He contended that Blanche had “aided and abetted the most corrupt administration in the history of the United States.” Blanche, he said, “continues to operate as the president’s personal lawyer, treating the Justice Department like a law firm serving one client: the president.”

Democrats, along with Tillis and Cornyn, had complained about the deal, orchestrated by the Justice Department, that initially included a $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund to compensate people who claim to have been unfairly prosecuted by the federal government. The deal offered audit immunity to Trump and his family for their past tax returns.

Blanche had repeatedly declared the fund “dead” but until a few days ago had refused to commit to formally rescinding it. The Justice Department also resisted repeated calls from Cornyn and Tillis to put changes to the IRS deal in writing as a condition for their support for Blanche.

With the narrow GOP majority on the committee, Blanche could not afford to lose a single Republican vote. His nomination appeared to be in peril over an extended dispute with the two Republican senators about the settlement, which resulted in the postponement of a July 30 committee vote.

Blanche issued a formal order terminating the fund late on Sunday, which Cornyn and Tillis declared was sufficient, despite the scope of the documents seeming to fall short of their demands.

In his remarks before the vote, Durbin addressed the settlement deal, accusing Blanche of lying under oath when he denied telling the senator, prior to his confirmation hearing, that he made a mistake by setting up the fund.

“Mr. Blanche’s willingness to casually lie under oath about a statement he made in a room full of witnesses shows the lengths he will go to to avoid offending President Trump,” Durbin said.

After the vote, Cornyn told MS NOW he thought it was “highly unlikely” that the anti-weaponization fund could be brought back without the Justice Department’s cooperation.

Blanche had assured him the fund was “dead and would not be revived,” Cornyn added, “and in this case we have no alternative but to take his word for that.”

Blanche sat before the committee for a difficult confirmation hearing in mid-July, when he was grilled on the IRS deal, his handling of the DOJ’s release of the Jeffrey Epstein files and the prosecution of prominent officials whom Trump considers his enemies. The committee also heard testimony from outside witnesses, including a survivor of Jeffrey Epstein, Dani Bensky, who has publicly criticized of Blanche’s handling of the Epstein files release.

After the hearing, Tillis said his support for Blanche would hinge on whether the acting attorney general met survivors of Jeffrey Epstein, which Blanche promptly agreed to do afterward. The women, however, said later that he was condescending and that he had insisted he was powerless to open any investigations. Bensky told reporters that Blanche “actually said the words ‘get to the point’ to us” during the meeting.

Bensky told MS NOW after the Tuesday vote that it was “depressing” that lawmakers decided to advance his nomination out of committee.

“I just don’t understand where the disconnect is, because it’s so glaring and blatant that he has broken the law,” Bensky said, referring to Blanche’s mishandling of the Epstein files release.

She said she still hopes that Murkowski, Cassidy and Collins will “do the right thing.” All three have expressed disapproval of the DOJ’s IRS settlement with Trump.

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From MS Now.