President Donald Trump quietly reignited a legal battle on Thursday to preserve an IRS audit agreement that has simultaneously become the central obstacle blocking acting Attorney General Todd Blanche's Senate confirmation.

According to court records, Trump, his sons, and the Trump Organization filed a notice of appeal with the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals, challenging a July 13 ruling issued by U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams.

At the heart of the dispute is a controversial provision — signed solely by Blanche — that would permanently prohibit the IRS from auditing Trump, his sons, and their business entities. The provision would be unprecedented in scope: no sitting or former president has previously secured a judicial order barring the IRS from auditing them, and the IRS has maintained a policy of annually auditing sitting presidents and vice presidents since the 1970s, a practice adopted after revelations that Richard Nixon had used tax authorities for political purposes.

Judge Williams determined that Trump had effectively sued himself, given his control over the agencies named in the lawsuit, and concluded that the audit-shield provision in the resulting settlement violated federal law.

"The Release Order also purports to bar the IRS from conducting any future tax audits of President Trump, his sons, and their entities," the order stated.

"The explicit text of this statute prohibits President Trump and his lawyers — one of whom was former White House Counsel — from asking for or promoting termination of an audit directed toward him," Williams wrote, noting that this was "a limitation surely known by former White House Counsel and the current Acting Attorney General."

That same audit shield has now become the primary roadblock to Blanche's confirmation in the Senate.

Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) told reporters earlier this week that negotiations over anti-weaponization fund language were close to resolution, but the audit deal remained unresolved. "We're trying to work just to get the language," Tillis said. "I really do believe it's just a drafting exercise." He identified "the remaining language on the audit" deal as the core sticking point.

Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) revealed Thursday that he and Blanche had been nearing an agreement — until the president intervened.

"I think as far as Blanche and the Department of Justice, we were pretty much on the same page," Cornyn told reporters. "But then when the president got wind of it, he wasn't willing to go along with it."

"I can see why he wants it, because it provides immunity from audits no other taxpayer would get," Cornyn added.

On Truth Social on Wednesday, Trump praised Blanche and threatened to withdraw the nomination, while making no mention of the audit deal. The appeal was filed the same day without any public announcement.

"I have no objection to temporarily withdrawing Todd's name, if they do not do the right thing, and putting him back after Cornyn and Tillis are out of office," Trump wrote (Truth Social).

"The president wants it both ways — he wants his audit immunity deal safeguarded, but he also wants his AG nominee confirmed," Punchbowl News senior congressional reporter Andrew Desiderio wrote on X. "Absent a complete fold by Cornyn/Tillis (which nobody in either party realistically expects), Trump cannot have both."

By Friday morning, Trump had reversed course, stating that Blanche "should be immediately approved as U.S. Attorney General," according to Forbes — though the standoff over the audit deal remained unresolved. The deadlock leaves the Department of Justice without a Senate-confirmed leader, meaning Blanche continues serving in an acting capacity with limited tenure under the Federal Vacancies Reform Act, which generally caps acting appointments at 210 days.