Insiders were optimistic on Thursday that Todd Blanche would be confirmed as attorney general and that a standoff between two Republicans and the Trump administration could be winding down, according to CNN reporters.
President Donald Trump signaled he could withdraw the nomination for Blanche, current acting attorney general and his former personal lawyer, and instead wait until Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) and Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) were out of office. The two Republicans have threatened to withhold support for Blanche over the president's IRS settlement and anti-weaponization fund.
But that could be changing, CNN correspondent Katelyn Polantz reported Thursday, saying that Blanche met with Cornyn.
"Perhaps this AG nomination does have another plot twist ahead?" Polantz wrote, in the update featured on CNN's text chains.
CNN senior White House correspondent Kristen Holmes echoed Polantz with a similar note.
"I just got off the phone with a source involved in the process who was very optimistic that Blanche gets confirmed — especially after the parties sat down today," Holmes wrote.