Two Republican senators who had stalled Todd Blanche's attorney general confirmation reversed course Monday after the Justice Department formally killed a controversial $1.8 billion fund, a deal that clears the nominee's path but leaves Democrats fuming.
Sens. John Cornyn of Texas and Thom Tillis of North Carolina announced they will vote to advance Blanche's nomination out of the Senate Judiciary Committee, ending a days-long standoff that had put the president's pick in jeopardy. The breakthrough came after Blanche posted a written order late Sunday formally rescinding the so-called "Anti-Weaponization Fund" and the Justice Department provided written clarification narrowing the scope of a separate IRS tax audit immunity agreement.
The committee had already postponed a vote on the nomination last week after Cornyn and Tillis said they needed more from the administration before lending their support. A new vote to advance Blanche is now scheduled for Tuesday, the Associated Press reported.
The acting attorney general's order, posted on social media late Sunday, used blunt language to shut the door on the fund. "No Members were appointed; no funds were transferred; no process for receiving claims was established; no claims were paid," Blanche wrote. He added that the order "establishes, beyond any doubt, that there is no Fund."
The $1.8 billion Anti-Weaponization Fund had become a flashpoint. It grew out of a settlement tied to a Trump lawsuit against the IRS, and critics, including Cornyn and Tillis, worried it could funnel taxpayer money to people who faced charges related to the January 6, 2021, events at the U.S. Capitol. Both senators wanted the fund dead in writing before they would provide the votes Blanche needed.
Cornyn and Tillis laid out their reasoning in a joint statement. The Washington Examiner reported that the committee ultimately advanced Blanche's nomination 12, 10 on a party-line vote after the two Republicans reversed their opposition.
"From the outset, we were clear that we needed a written document addressing our concerns on the IRS audit agreement and the anti-weaponization fund that included constraining the scope of audit protection by limiting it to the parties of the Settlement Agreement and legally ending the anti-weaponization fund."
That is exactly what they got. And they said so plainly: "We want to express our gratitude to Mr. Blanche and his staff for working with us on this, and we look forward to voting to advance his nomination out of the Senate Judiciary Committee soon."
Beyond killing the fund, the Justice Department also delivered written clarification on the IRS tax audit immunity agreement that had prompted the original standoff between the holdout senators and the administration. The clarification stated that the agreement "applies by its terms only retroactively" to claims that were open at the time of the settlement. It does not shield the president from examination of future tax filings.
Only the parties that brought the lawsuit, Trump, two of his sons, and the Trump Organization, are covered. National Review reported that the DOJ issued a binding written order confirming the audit settlement is limited to the plaintiffs and does not extend beyond them, a formal concession the White House made to secure the votes.
That distinction matters. Cornyn and Tillis had insisted on constraining the scope of the audit protection so it could not be read as a blanket shield for anyone beyond the named parties. The written clarification gave them the guardrails they demanded.
The deal did not come easily. Last week, the Senate Judiciary Committee postponed a previously scheduled Thursday vote on Blanche's nomination after Cornyn and Tillis made clear they were not yet satisfied. The delay set off a rapid escalation.
After the Thursday vote fell through, Trump posted on social media that he might pull Blanche's nomination entirely and resubmit it after Cornyn and Tillis leave office, both senators' terms end next January. By Saturday, Trump went further, threatening to push forward with the Anti-Weaponization Fund if the two Republicans continued to block the nomination.
On Sunday evening, Trump spoke publicly in support of people who faced charges related to the January 6 events, saying they had "their lives destroyed." He framed the fund concept as restitution: "This would be a reimbursement for the pain that they suffered," he said. "A lot of people like it."
Hours later, Blanche posted the order killing the fund. By Monday morning, Cornyn and Tillis announced the deal was done.
Blanche entered the Justice Department last year as deputy attorney general. He previously served as Trump's defense lawyer in the president's criminal cases. He was elevated to the top post after Trump fired former Attorney General Pam Bondi in April, amid broader disputes over DOJ priorities and what the AP described as frustration over the department's direction.
As acting attorney general, Blanche moved to advance the Trump administration's agenda and accelerated investigations into individuals the administration has targeted. His nomination to the permanent post now heads toward a full Senate confirmation vote. Breitbart reported that the full Senate is expected to vote later in the week, and the New York Post reported that the formal order rescinded a May 18 directive that had originally established the fund, declaring it "shall have no force or effect."
Not everyone is satisfied. Democratic Sen. Adam Schiff posted on social media that the agreement falls short. He argued that the order does not prevent the administration from compensating January 6 defendants through other channels.
Schiff wrote:
"This supposed 'deal' doesn't prevent payouts to violent insurrectionists in the future."
He also claimed the agreement "leaves in place a tax-immunity deal that could help Trump skip taxes on the $2.3 billion he made last year, and still leaves it vague who and what is covered." The source and methodology behind Schiff's $2.3 billion figure were not specified.
Democrats also noted that a previously established process still exists allowing individuals to file claims for damages if they believe they were wronged by the government, a pathway that could, in theory, benefit some January 6 defendants regardless of the fund's termination. The specifics of that process were not detailed.
Schiff's objections, though, do not change the math. Cornyn and Tillis were the two votes Blanche needed. They got what they asked for in writing, and they gave their support. Questions about Blanche's own private views on the fund had circulated for weeks, but the formal written order settled the matter for the senators who held the leverage.
Whatever one thinks of the Anti-Weaponization Fund, and reasonable people on the right disagree, Cornyn and Tillis did something increasingly rare in Washington. They identified a specific concern, stated their demands clearly, held their ground under pressure from their own party's president, and voted yes only after they received written, binding commitments. They did not grandstand. They did not defect. They negotiated, got the concessions on paper, and moved forward.
Blanche now heads toward full Senate confirmation with the fund formally dead and the IRS audit protections boxed in. The committee vote is set. The path is clear.
That is how the process is supposed to work, senators using their votes to extract accountability, not to score cable-news points. Washington could use more of it.