WASHINGTON -- A key committee vote to advance President Trump's nomination of Todd Blanche as attorney general was postponed, as the administration made a last-minute pitch to win over holdout Republicans who could block the pick.

The Senate Judiciary Committee had scheduled a vote Thursday on whether to send Blanche's nomination to the full Senate floor. But late Wednesday the committee said the vote would be postponed to provide more time to reach a deal.

The delay came after Sens. John Cornyn (R., Texas) and Sen. Thom Tillis (R., N.C.) warned they could vote against Blanche in the committee unless the administration permanently kills off a controversial $1.8 billion "anti-weaponization fund." That fund was created in an agreement between Trump and his administration that ended the president's lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service.

The senators also want changes to a Blanche order that ended pending tax audits against Trump and his businesses and appeared to provide sweeping protections against government investigations.

In a statement late Wednesday, a committee representative said the planned vote Thursday was postponed as "work continues to secure sufficient support." The statement noted that Tillis and Cornyn wanted written assurances regarding the Trump-IRS settlement.

Asked hours earlier if he thought a deal might be close, Cornyn said no. "It doesn't feel like it," he said.

"Bottom line is, we just need an executed agreement," said Tillis, who like Cornyn had a falling-out with Trump and is leaving the Senate after this term. "This is a fairly straightforward proposition. And we're almost there, too."

He said only one provision remained a sticking point and that the Justice Department was working toward revising a provision of the settlement agreement.

"We are working on getting a solution," said Sen. Chuck Grassley (R., Iowa), the Senate Judiciary Committee chairman, leaving a meeting in Cornyn's office Wednesday evening.

A Justice Department official said Wednesday night that the department had transmitted new language to Cornyn and Tillis and were still in discussions.

Blanche has been serving as acting attorney general since April, when Trump fired his predecessor Pam Bondi. A single no vote from a Republican senator in the committee would effectively sink Blanche's confirmation to the permanent role, assuming all Democrats are opposed.

Cornyn postponed a meeting with Blanche on Wednesday morning, saying he had made clear from the outset that he expected a written proposal to modify the audit protections that the Justice Department had given Trump alongside the IRS settlement.

Cornyn said early in the day that the Justice Department had until 4 p.m. Wednesday to comply or Thursday's vote likely would be canceled. "Maybe they think I'll just give up or go along, but they're mistaken," he said. The deadline passed with no deal.

Sen. John Kennedy (R., La.), a member of the Judiciary Committee, said he doesn't think Cornyn is bluffing.

"John has every right to do it, and he's a good man. And if I were the Justice Department, I would believe him," Kennedy said. "I think he's as serious as four heart attacks and a stroke -- and an ambulance."

During his confirmation hearing this month, Blanche tried to ease senators' concerns over the settlement, which included the fund and a related order Blanche signed giving Trump sweeping legal protections from government actions. He said repeatedly that the Justice Department had abandoned the fund, but Cornyn said he wasn't persuaded.

The text of the deal creating the fund said that it could be changed only with agreement of all of the parties who signed it, including the IRS, the Justice Department and Trump in his personal capacity. Under sharp questioning by Cornyn, Blanche said those entities hadn't altered the agreement and acknowledged that Trump could theoretically sue the government for breach of contract for failing to create the fund.

A related order also ceased any pending tax audits of Trump, his family and his businesses, and Blanche has said that prohibition remains in effect. That order said it applied to the plaintiffs in a lawsuit brought by Trump against the government and to "related or affiliated individuals," including trusts and related companies.

Under questioning from Cornyn, Blanche said the order didn't apply to anyone beyond Trump, his two sons and the Trump Organization, the plaintiffs in the lawsuit.

Similarly, the written order said it applied to the defendants in the lawsuit -- the IRS and the Treasury Department -- and "other agencies or departments." Pressed by Cornyn about whether other agencies such as the Securities and Exchange Commission would be covered by the promise, Blanche said that they wouldn't.

Cornyn has said he wanted the Justice Department to make the written language mirror the more limited version that Blanche described in the hearing. That revised language could leave in place some audit protections for Trump.