Takeaways from Blanche and Clayton hearings: Fund for Trump allies and 2020 election at the forefront | CNN Politics

In twin hearings Wednesday, two nominees integral to executing President Donald Trump’s agenda worked to convince senators that they were up to the task: Todd Blanche for attorney general, and Jay Clayton to lead the US Intelligence community. The men faced intense scrutiny from the Senate Judiciary and Intelligence committees on whether they could properly steer some of the federal government’s most critical divisions. Blanche has a razor thin margin of error, as even a single Republican no-vote in committee could tank his nomination. That left him to walk a careful line between calmly assuring Republicans that he will continue his aggressive tenure at the Justice Department but without political interference from the president. And though he appeared to achieve that goal, some Republicans still said Wednesday that they hadn’t made a final decision, notably Texas Sen. John Cornyn. Clayton, who is currently the US Attorney for the Southern District of New York — Blanche’s former office — also faced tense questions about the winner of the 2020 election and a set of controversial subpoenas Clayton signed for New York Times journalists. Blanche focused on staying calm an