THE Senate vote to confirm Todd Blanche as the attorney general has reached a standstill as one US senator revealed there is only one thing that will get him to vote.

Blanche has been serving as acting US attorney general after Pam Bondi was fired from the role in April.

Blanche faces a hurdle in his confirmation vote as Senator Thom Tillis, a Republican from North Carolina, said he will not vote to confirm Blanche to the role permanently until he meets with survivors of Jeffrey Epstein’s abuse.

“I have not made a final decision, but Mr. Blanche said very quickly yesterday that he would meet with the Epstein victims today if it could be arranged,” Tillis said during the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Thursday.

“It seemed to me that Mr. Blanche was willing to say that he would meet with them — and counsel — I understand the restriction that counsel has to be present, I expect that meeting to occur before I’m willing to vote out of this committee.”

Dani Bensky, a survivor of Epstein’s abuse, nodded along with a smile on her face as Tillis shared his ultimatum.

Blanche took over as attorney general after Bondi was fired by President Donald Trump, reportedly over her handling of the Epstein files and a slew of failed prosecutions of former officials.

Lawmakers accused Bondi and the federal government of covering up information in the heavily redacted files.

Identifiable information and names of victims were redacted in the files as were the names of high-profile figures.

US Representative Thomas Massie previously accused some of the high-profile figures as being “wealthy and powerful men that the DOJ hid for no apparent reason.”

Blanche and Bondi emphasized that there were no records “withheld or redacted ‘on the basis of embarrassment, reputational harm, or political sensitivity, including to any government official, public figure, or foreign dignitary.”

Some victims identities were also left unredacted in some batches released by the Department of Justice.

On Thursday, Tillis said he is trying to get toward voting “yes” to confirm Blanche to the role, but said him meeting with survivors is “a very important part of getting to ‘yes.'”

“There should not be any reason why based on what Mr. Blanche said yesterday, if he said that he would do it today, then he can certainly do it over the next two weeks.”

If all Democrats on the committee oppose confirming Blanche, and just one Republican votes “no,” then Blanche’s confirmation will fail to advance to the Senate floor.

Texas Republican Senator John Cornyn also remains undecided on Blanche’s confirmation, Politico reported.

Both Cornyn and Tillis are leaving their seats in 2027, with Tillis retiring and Cornyn losing his primary election to a Trump-backed candidate.

Blanche would likely have to meet with survivors before July 30, the likely day that the committee will vote on whether to move his nomination to the full Senate.

Blanche was not present at Thursday’s hearing, and instead witnesses were called to testify about Blanche’s character.

One of the witnesses was Bensky, who had her identity exposed during the redaction process, which Blanche oversaw as deputy attorney general.

During Wednesday’s hearing, Blanche said he was “prohibited from meeting directly with” survivors, but said he has met with many of their attorneys, Axios reported.

“If they are represented by counsel, we will work with their counsel. If they don’t have a lawyer, I will certainly make arrangements to make sure the right people at the Department of Justice meet with them,” he said.

Blanche also said he would arrange for a staffer to speak more with survivors, but in Thursday’s hearing, Bensky said she was “not aware” of a staffer reaching out to follow up on his comments.

“They have not contacted us,” she said.

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