{"id":2642166,"date":"2026-08-08T12:30:02","date_gmt":"2026-08-08T16:30:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/how-grassley-got-blanches-ag-nomination-back-on-track\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T12:35:08","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T16:35:08","slug":"how-grassley-got-blanches-ag-nomination-back-on-track","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/how-grassley-got-blanches-ag-nomination-back-on-track\/","title":{"rendered":"How Grassley got Blanche\u2019s AG nomination back on track"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">18<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fhow-grassley-got-blanches-ag-nomination-back-on-track%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2642166&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Todd Blanche\u2019s nomination for attorney general faced significant hurdles, including partisan and political obstacles. Senator Chuck Grassley, as Judiciary Committee chairman, played a crucial role in resolving internal disagreements and facilitating the nomination&#8217;s progress. Initially,Blanche\u2019s confirmation was threatened due to holdouts demanding written assurances regarding the Justice Department\u2019s \u201canti-weaponization\u201d fund,associated with jan. 6 defendants. Negotiations involved multiple senators, including John Cornyn and Thom Tillis, who had reservations partly related to Trump&#8217;s immunity discussions. Grassley stepped in with calls, meetings, and strategic postponements to buy time and reach a compromise, notably over language concerning the fund.<\/p>\n<p>In a weekend breakthrough, a deal was reached, allowing the committee to approve blanche\u2019s nomination and send it to the Senate floor.Despite internal and external pressures, including from President Trump\u2019s team and senators with reservations-such as Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski-Blanche ultimately secured confirmation by a narrow vote of 50-49, with support from Senator Cassidy. The process underscored the complex negotiations and political maneuvering required to confirm a high-profile Cabinet nominee amid a divided Senate and contentious issues.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<article class=\"fn-body\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/todd-blanche\/\">Todd Blanche\u2019s<\/a> nomination for attorney general was on thin ice when Sen. <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/chuck-grassley\/\">Chuck Grassley<\/a> (R-IA), the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, reached out with a plea.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cDon\u2019t overcomplicate this. Get it done,\u201d Grassley said in a late July phone call to Blanche, encouraging him to compromise with two holdouts on his committee who wanted written assurances that the <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/department-of-justice\/\">Justice Department\u2019s<\/a> \u201canti-weaponization\u201d fund was, in fact, dead.<\/p>\n<section class=\"explore-more-section\" id=\"wex-recommended-widget\">\n<div class=\"magazine-container single\">\n<h1 class=\"magazine-title mt-2\">Recommended Stories<\/h1>\n<p>             <i class=\"fa-solid fa-play icon\"><\/i>         <\/div>\n<div class=\"explore-grid\">\n<div class=\"explore-card\">                         <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/senate\/4679983\/chuck-grassley-todd-blanche-attorney-general-nomination\/?itm_source=parsely-api\">                             <\/p>\n<div class=\"explore-thumb-wrap\">                                                                                                                                  <\/div>\n<h3>How Grassley got Todd Blanche\u2019s attorney general nomination back on track<\/h3>\n<p>                         <\/a>                     <\/div>\n<div class=\"explore-card\">                         <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/white-house\/4680128\/trump-video-murkowski-blanche-confirmation\/?itm_source=parsely-api\">                             <\/p>\n<div class=\"explore-thumb-wrap\">                                                                                                                                  <\/div>\n<h3>Trump posts video targeting Murkowski over vote against Blanche confirmation<\/h3>\n<p>                         <\/a>                     <\/div>\n<div class=\"explore-card\">                         <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/senate\/4680065\/senate-confirms-todd-blanche-attorney-general-august-break\/?itm_source=parsely-api\">                             <\/p>\n<div class=\"explore-thumb-wrap\">                                                                                                                                  <\/div>\n<h3>Senate confirms Todd Blanche as attorney general before August break<\/h3>\n<p>                         <\/a>                     <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The solution, it seemed to Grassley, was relatively simple. Blanche, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/attorney-lin-wood-defends-ag-bill-barr-after-announces-he-is-stepping-down-trump-voters-respond\/\" title=\"Attorney Lin Wood Defends AG Bill Barr After Announces He Is Stepping Down \u2014 Trump Voters Respond\">acting attorney general<\/a>, had already stated at his confirmation hearing that the fund, controversial for its expected payouts to Jan. 6 defendants, would not move forward.<\/p>\n<div class=\"wex-inarticle-ad wex-inarticle-ad-art-dsk-inart-1\">\n<div class=\"wex-ad-wrap wex-ad-art-dsk-inart-1\" style=\"min-height:90px\"><span class=\"wex-ad-label\" hidden>Advertisement<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-3182201-15\" data-wex-ad=\"art-dsk-inart-1\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI said we ought to do this with one sentence,\u201d Grassley recalled in an interview. <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But Grassley had a political mess on his hands and saw time slipping away for a deal. Sen. <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/john-cornyn\/\">John Cornyn<\/a> (R-TX), one of the holdouts, had just canceled a meeting with Blanche slated for that morning, and negotiations were stalled at the staff level. A draft document hadn\u2019t even been circulated going into the week of a make-or-break committee vote, according to two sources familiar with the talks.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/senate\/4655253\/big-beautiful-bill-lindsey-graham-wins-over-murderers-row\/\"><strong>HOW THE BIG BEAUTIFUL BILL BECAME LAW: GRAHAM WINS OVER \u2018MURDERER\u2019S ROW\u2019<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"wex-inarticle-ad wex-inarticle-ad-art-dsk-inart-2\">\n<div class=\"wex-ad-wrap wex-ad-art-dsk-inart-2\" style=\"min-height:90px\"><span class=\"wex-ad-label\" hidden>Advertisement<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-3182201-16\" data-wex-ad=\"art-dsk-inart-2\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The shakiness of Blanche\u2019s nomination would continue all the way to Saturday, when he was confirmed in the Senate by the narrowest of margins, with two GOP senators joining all Democrats in opposition. Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA), a longtime Trump skeptic, <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/senate\/4679054\/bill-cassidy-todd-blanche-nomination-attorney-general\/\">provided the decisive \u201cyes\u201d vote<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The bigger challenge for Blanche, however, was in the Judiciary Committee \u2014 and it fell to Grassley as chairman to break a stalemate that risked embarrassing President Donald Trump and denying him a high-profile Cabinet pick.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Grassley, who at 92 is the longest-serving member of the Senate, managed to nudge both sides toward a deal just in time for a postponed but successful committee vote on Tuesday. That vote then allowed Blanche\u2019s nomination to proceed to the Senate floor before the August recess, a month-long break that many saw as fatal to Blanche\u2019s prospects of being confirmed.<\/p>\n<div class=\"wex-inarticle-ad wex-inarticle-ad-art-dsk-inart-3\">\n<div class=\"wex-ad-wrap wex-ad-art-dsk-inart-3\" style=\"min-height:90px\"><span class=\"wex-ad-label\" hidden>Advertisement<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-3182201-17\" data-wex-ad=\"art-dsk-inart-3\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There were multiple dynamics outside of Grassley\u2019s control that nearly derailed the confirmation.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Blanche was negotiating with two outgoing senators who had nothing to lose politically if they decided to vote \u201cno.\u201d Cornyn had been defeated by a Trump-backed challenger in his May primary for reelection, while Sen. <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/thom-tillis\/\">Thom Tillis<\/a> (R-NC) announced his retirement as part of a running series of spats with the president that picked up in earnest last year.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Two sources close to the negotiations blamed the delays on the president\u2019s personal attorney, Boris Epshteyn, who was involved in discussions over Trump\u2019s immunity from tax audits, another element of a May settlement that Cornyn was scrutinizing.<\/p>\n<div class=\"wex-inarticle-ad wex-inarticle-ad-art-dsk-inart-4\">\n<div class=\"wex-ad-wrap wex-ad-art-dsk-inart-4\" style=\"min-height:90px\"><span class=\"wex-ad-label\" hidden>Advertisement<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-3182201-25\" data-wex-ad=\"art-dsk-inart-4\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Blanche assured Cornyn at his confirmation hearing that there were limits to that immunity, but Cornyn again wanted that assurance in writing. Epshteyn did not respond to a request for comment at time of publication.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"h-blanche-on-the-brink\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">Blanche on the brink<\/h2>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Grassley\u2019s July 27 phone call to Blanche was just the beginning of what became a week-long push to get his nomination back on track. He arranged a meeting with Cornyn and Tillis to see if they would vote to advance Blanche out of the Judiciary Committee and then hammer out the written document before a floor vote.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIt was kind of, could I get you guys to vote without having all this worked out?\u201d Grassley said of the meeting.<\/p>\n<div class=\"wex-inarticle-ad wex-inarticle-ad-art-dsk-inart-5\">\n<div class=\"wex-ad-wrap wex-ad-art-dsk-inart-5\" style=\"min-height:90px\"><span class=\"wex-ad-label\" hidden>Advertisement<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-3182201-26\" data-wex-ad=\"art-dsk-inart-5\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When the two senators made clear they weren\u2019t willing to do so, Grassley arranged a sitdown with them and Blanche last Thursday \u2013 effectively rebooting a meeting that Cornyn had repeatedly scheduled and then cancelled.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That meeting was held at the headquarters of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, a venue Tillis said he requested \u201cso we could just get out of the limelight.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Notably, Grassley said he sympathized with what Cornyn and Tillis were demanding and that they had \u201clegitimate questions, legitimate concerns.\u201d He also understood that other Republicans were just as interested in having a written agreement and might have voted \u201cno\u201d if Cornyn and Tillis couldn\u2019t work out a solution.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIf these two hadn\u2019t settled it,\u201d he added, \u201cthere would have been problems on the floor.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But Grassley\u2019s chief concern was a setback that could prove fatal to Blanche\u2019s nomination. He was already staring down a postponement of the committee markup, originally set for last Thursday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">One source with knowledge of the negotiations said that once Grassley cancelled the markup, he faced pressure from the administration to reschedule it whether he had Cornyn\u2019s support or not.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In the interview, Grassley said he never contemplated a failed committee vote.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIt wouldn\u2019t have been any good to have a meeting without the votes,\u201d Grassley said. \u201cYou either vote him out with approval or vote him out without recommendation \u2014 you still got to have 12 Republican votes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cSo, anybody that was proposing that you could vote him out without having a majority vote didn\u2019t know how the Senate operates,\u201d he added. \u201cSo, I straightened that out with them.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"h-grassley-buys-more-time\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">Grassley buys more time<\/h2>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Grassley admitted he had \u201cno level of confidence\u201d that Blanche\u2019s nomination would succeed when he made the snap decision last Friday to put a committee meeting back on the books.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He\u2019d spent the evening making calls from his Iowa farm to figure out a course of action, and though he planned to cancel again by Monday if no deal materialized, Grassley saw a rescheduled markup as a play for more time.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/senate\/4648655\/tillis-shaheen-recommend-mike-rounds-angus-king-senate-nato-observer-group\/\"><strong>SENATE\u2019S NATO GROUP LEADERS FLOAT MIKE ROUNDS AND ANGUS KING AS SUCCESSORS<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Trump was beginning to grow frustrated with the delay and lashed out at Cornyn and Tillis on social media, at one point threatening to keep Blanche on as acting attorney general indefinitely.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But Blanche had been trading language with Cornyn throughout the week, and Grassley wanted to leave open the possibility of a floor vote.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Grassley made the decision after multiple Friday night phone calls with Homeland Security Secretary <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/markwayne-mullin\/\" data-type=\"post_tag\" data-id=\"21441\">Markwayne Mullin<\/a>, an old Senate colleague who reached out on behalf of Trump.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The senator called them \u201cvery friendly\u201d conversations. A source said the calls were to talk through \u201cavenues\u201d for getting Blanche through the Judiciary Committee.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"h-weekend-breakthrough\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">Weekend breakthrough<\/h2>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It wouldn\u2019t be long before the agreement with Cornyn came together, but one source close to the negotiations said the talks were at risk of falling apart by last Thursday. Tillis said the \u201coperative words that got us to a \u2018yes\u2019 happened over the weekend.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIt was really language that Cornyn insisted on,\u201d he said, referring to the $1.776 billion payout fund. \u201cThat was admittedly a compromise, and one that makes me feel comfortable \u2013 that clearly the 1776 fund has been rescinded.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The language was <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/senate\/4670112\/cornyn-reaches-deal-doj-todd-blanche-nomination-vote\/\">released in a brief letter<\/a> by the Justice Department on Sunday shortly before midnight, but had been approved earlier that night, according to one source.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Cornyn said that the core negotiating group was Blanche, Tillis, and himself, but that Grassley was the \u201cbig kahuna\u201d as committee chairman and stayed in \u201cclose touch.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI think he likes to keep the trains running and keep them on time, and so he was not real happy that we had to pass on the first markup that he scheduled, but all\u2019s well that is well,\u201d Cornyn said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Mike Davis, a former Grassley staffer and outside adviser to the White House, also became involved after the first markup was scrapped, offering to help work with Cornyn\u2019s counsel and the <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/justice-department\/\" data-type=\"post_tag\" data-id=\"167\">Justice Department<\/a> on compromise language. Davis declined to comment for this story.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Throughout the process, Grassley took a gentler approach than Trump, relaying to Cornyn and Tillis at their meeting, \u201cWe\u2019re going to be friends either way, but I want to confirm Blanche.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The breakthrough led to a successful committee vote on Tuesday, with Cornyn and Tillis voting for Blanche with the rest of the GOP Judiciary members.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cHe\u2019s always been supportive,\u201d said Tillis. \u201cAnytime I\u2019ve had some of these situations \u2014 had a few others in the past \u2014 Chuck Grassley, he\u2019s always just been a good, solid chair, and he takes care of his members.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In terms of the White House, one source said Trump \u201cstayed out of it for the most part\u201d but that his chief of staff, <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/susie-wiles\/\" data-type=\"post_tag\" data-id=\"11678\">Susie Wiles<\/a>, got \u201cheavily\u201d involved over the weekend. A second source confirmed Wiles\u2019s involvement.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"h-clinching-50-votes\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">Clinching 50 votes<\/h2>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">With a successful committee vote behind him, Blanche turned his attention to winning over the remaining holdouts who were not Judiciary members before his nomination reached the floor.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/senate\/4675099\/susan-collins-oppose-todd-blanche-nomination-attorney-general\/\">announced she was a \u201cno\u201d<\/a> the same day as the markup, but Sen. John Curtis (R-UT) came out as a \u201cyes,\u201d and there was still a path if Blanche could convince either Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) or Cassidy, two skeptical but persuadable GOP senators.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY), who is recovering from a fall he suffered in June, appeared to hurt the whip count with his absence, although he\u2019s an <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/senate\/4587753\/mcconnell-lets-loose-trump-senate-retirement\/\">outspoken critic<\/a> of the \u201canti-weaponization\u201d fund, and it\u2019s not clear he would have supported Blanche.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The final breakthrough came from a series of conversations Blanche had with Cassidy, another retiring senator who announced his support from the Senate floor on Friday morning.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In a Wednesday meeting, Cassidy fixated on the Justice Department\u2019s investigation into Cassidy Hutchinston, the one-time star witness to the Jan. 6 committee, according to a source familiar with the discussion.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Cassidy had expressed concern that the investigation was politicized, but argued in his Friday floor speech that Blanche was better than other nominees Trump might have chosen and that a conversation he had with former Attorney General Bill Barr was persuasive as well.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/senate\/4669677\/fetterman-andy-beshear-mcconnell-health\/\"><strong>FETTERMAN SAYS BESHEAR TRYING TO PUT HIS \u2018NAME IN THE NEWS\u2019 WITH MCCONNELL HEALTH SCRUTINY<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He also echoed the advice Cornyn had for Cassidy after the committee vote. Cornyn, who ultimately encouraged the other holdouts to support Blanche, argued that the Justice Department needed a Senate-confirmed leader to avoid additional \u201cchaos and dysfunction.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Blanche lost the vote of Murkowski but skated through 50-49 with Cassidy\u2019s support.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Grassley urged Blanche to compromise on AG nomination<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2651,"featured_media":2642167,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Grassley-Blanche-confirmation-graphic-2.png?w=696","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[52583,60472,5894],"class_list":["post-2642166","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-grassley-2","tag-nominations-2","tag-politics"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Grassley-Blanche-confirmation-graphic-2.png?w=696","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2642166","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2651"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2642166"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2642166\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2642170,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2642166\/revisions\/2642170"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2642167"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2642166"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2642166"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2642166"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}