Cornyn Suggests He’s Undecided on Blanche After Predicting ‘Miserable’ Final Two Years for Trump

Key Points:

• Senator John Cornyn met with acting Attorney General Todd Blanche ahead of a tentative mid-July confirmation hearing, describing the meeting as positive but withholding his decision pending further inquiry into Blanche’s handling of a controversial DOJ slush fund.
• Blanche’s nomination faces a challenging path in the Senate Judiciary Committee, where Republicans hold a narrow majority and some conservative members, including Cornyn and Thom Tillis, may express reservations due to Blanche’s close ties to former President Trump and the DOJ’s recent actions.
• Cornyn, who has had a strained relationship with Trump following the latter’s endorsement of Ken Paxton in the Texas GOP primary, hinted at a potentially difficult confirmation process and suggested he might oppose aspects of Blanche’s agenda, including the $1.8 billion fund seen as politically motivated.
• In Minnesota, protests erupted following the indictment of 15 demonstrators connected to federal operations during late 2025 and early 2026, with defense attorneys condemning the charges as part of a broader government crackdown on dissent and civil rights activism.
• French President Emmanuel Macron and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky were overheard on a hot mic discussing the difficulties of arranging a meeting with former President Trump, highlighting ongoing diplomatic complexities.