Thomas Tillis

Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., said Sunday he is inclined to support acting Attorney General Todd Blanche's nomination to become attorney general but warned that any sign the Justice Department will lack independence could affect his vote.

Tillis, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, made the comments on CNN's "State of the Union" ahead of Blanche's confirmation hearings scheduled for July 15 and 16.

"I'm going to go through the nomination process. I have got a positive predisposition towards Blanche," Tillis told host Jake Tapper.

Blanche, a former personal attorney for President Donald Trump, has served as acting attorney general since April after Trump dismissed former Attorney General Pam Bondi.

Tillis, who is not seeking reelection, said Blanche was "one of the key reasons" the Justice Department dropped its criminal investigation of former Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell. Tillis had blocked the confirmation of Kevin Warsh, who succeeded Powell last month, while the probe was ongoing from January through late April.

But Tillis said his support is not guaranteed.

He warned that if he gets "even a whiff" that the Justice Department will not operate independently under Blanche, "that could influence" his vote.

Tillis also pointed to the Justice Department's since-abandoned "anti-weaponization" fund as an issue he wants resolved before Blanche's confirmation hearing. The North Carolina Republican has objected to the proposal, arguing it could have allowed taxpayer money to go to people convicted of assaulting police officers during the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.

After Trump dismissed Bondi in April, Tillis said he would not support any attorney general nominee who equivocated about Jan. 6.

Tillis met with Blanche on Thursday and later said on X that the meeting was "good."

"I appreciated the opportunity to hear his vision for the Department of Justice and discuss the important work that lies ahead," Tillis wrote.

On Sunday, Tillis called Blanche a "very competent attorney" but said the administration must fully put the fund issue to rest before the nomination advances.

"Right now, I'm confident in what we see with Blanche if we can address these distractions that have to get off the table before his confirmation, particularly the 1776 fund," Tillis said.

"Let's just put it away. The president, the acting attorney general, others in the administration said that they have determined it's inoperative, they're not going to move forward with it. Let's make it inoperative," he added.