Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche formally killed a controversial $1.8 billion Justice Department fund on Sunday, breaking a weeks-long standoff with two Republican senators who had blocked his confirmation vote.
Blanche issued a written order rescinding the May 18 directive that created the so-called Anti-Weaponization Fund, and he narrowed the scope of tax protections in a separate IRS settlement involving President Trump. The moves came after weeks of private negotiations with Republican Sens. John Cornyn of Texas and Thom Tillis of North Carolina, both of whom had refused to advance Blanche's nomination without binding written commitments that the fund was permanently dead.
The Senate Judiciary Committee now has a vote on Blanche's nomination scheduled for 9 a.m. Tuesday. Every Republican on the committee must vote in favor to overcome what is expected to be unanimous Democratic opposition. With Cornyn signaling he is satisfied and Tillis expected to follow, Senate Republicans hope to push the nomination to a full floor vote before the August recess begins on August 7.
The agreement did not come easily. Cornyn and Tillis had stalled Blanche's confirmation vote days earlier, demanding that the Justice Department put its assurances in writing rather than rely on verbal promises. Their chief concern: that the $1.8 billion fund could be revived, either by a future DOJ directive or through legislation, and that people convicted in connection with the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot could become eligible for payments.
The Justice Department maintained that the fund never became operational. No board members were appointed, no money was transferred, no claims process was established, and no payments were made. But that was not enough for the two holdouts.
On Saturday, before the deal materialized, Tillis went public with sharp criticism. He accused the administration of planning to revive what he called a "payout pot for punks," either by setting up another fund or by pushing Congress to vote on a bill that, in his words, "the majority of Republicans in the Senate would be against."
Tillis added a blunt prediction that same day, as Fox News reported:
"It's unfortunate that Todd Blanche, who I consider qualified for the job, will not be confirmed because of this reversal. Hopefully, we can resolve this by Tuesday."
That resolution came the following day. Cornyn's spokeswoman, Natalie Yezbick, confirmed the agreement to the Associated Press:
"Sen. Cornyn has reached an agreement with the Department of Justice, which will be issuing a formal order permanently terminating the anti-weaponization fund and making clear in a binding written document that the scope of the audit settlement is limited to only the plaintiffs, including the President, and the IRS."
Beyond rescinding the fund itself, Blanche's order addressed a second sticking point: the scope of a separate IRS settlement reached in May. Cornyn and Tillis wanted assurance that the settlement's tax-related protections applied only retroactively, covering past filings, and did not shield anyone from scrutiny on future tax returns. Blanche's written order made that distinction explicit.
The IRS settlement had already drawn scrutiny from other quarters. An Obama-appointed judge voided the settlement earlier in July and referred Trump's attorney to the Florida Bar, adding a layer of legal uncertainty to the arrangement that Blanche was now clarifying for Senate consumption.
Blanche, who took over as acting attorney general from Pam Bondi in April, posted a statement on X announcing the order. He framed the weeks of back-and-forth as productive rather than contentious:
"My team and I have met with committee members and Senators over the past several weeks and addressed any concerns or outstanding questions. We have enjoyed good faith discussions, and as a result issue the following order and update with regard to the May IRS settlement. The Department always welcomes and appreciates productive engagement with all members of Congress."
Throughout the standoff, President Trump publicly backed his nominee. At a Cabinet meeting at Camp David on Friday, Trump defended both Blanche and the concept behind the Anti-Weaponization Fund. When asked about Cornyn's resistance, Trump offered a pointed response.
"Maybe John Cornyn's upset with me because I didn't endorse him," Trump said, according to AP reporting. He called Blanche "outstanding" and added, "You just wouldn't find a better person."
Cornyn, for his part, cast the delay as a failure of communication by the Justice Department rather than a personal dispute with the president. "We've been trying to help them get to a conclusion here and they won't let us," he told reporters. "It's befuddling to me."
The New York Post reported that the committee canceled the original confirmation vote less than 24 hours before it was to be held, underscoring how close the nomination came to a procedural collapse.
With the August recess looming, the rescheduled committee vote on Tuesday carries real urgency. If the committee advances Blanche, Senate leadership will need to move quickly to schedule a full floor vote before lawmakers leave Washington on August 7.
As of Sunday night, Tillis had not publicly confirmed whether he would vote for Blanche at the committee markup. But Just The News reported that both Cornyn and Tillis announced plans to back Blanche, a development that would effectively clinch the nomination at the committee level.
The broader push to confirm Trump's nominees before the recess has consumed weeks of Senate floor time, and Blanche's confirmation fight became one of the most contentious, not because of Democratic opposition, but because of friction within the Republican conference itself.
Several open questions remain. The full text of Blanche's rescission order has not been made public. It is unclear whether the agreement with Cornyn carries binding legal force that would prevent a future attorney general from establishing a similar fund. And the broader question of whether Congress will take up legislation to create an anti-weaponization mechanism, the very scenario Tillis warned about on Saturday, remains unresolved.
Reports also surfaced that Blanche privately called the anti-weaponization fund "a mistake" in a meeting with senators, a characterization that may have helped smooth the path to Sunday's formal rescission.
When two members of your own party hold up a qualified nominee over a fund that never spent a dime, the problem was never the money, it was the precedent. Blanche put it in writing. Now the Senate should do its job.