Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche formally killed the controversial $1.8 billion anti-weaponization fund late Sunday, a concession to fellow Republicans who refused to back his confirmation without it in writing.
Blanche issued a binding written order rescinding the May 18 directive that had created the fund, clearing a path for a Tuesday Senate Judiciary Committee vote on his nomination to become the permanent attorney general. The move came after weeks of negotiations with Republican Senators John Cornyn of Texas and Thom Tillis of North Carolina, both of whom had blocked the nomination until the Department of Justice put the fund's termination on paper.
The deal resolved a standoff that had stalled one of President Trump's highest-priority nominations. With every Democrat expected to vote no, Republicans needed full party unity on the committee to advance Blanche, and Cornyn and Tillis held the leverage to stop it cold.
The anti-weaponization fund grew out of a settlement in Trump's lawsuit against the IRS. Trump had filed a $10 billion suit over the 2019 leak of his tax returns to the New York Times by IRS contractor Charles Littlejohn, who later pleaded guilty. Under the settlement announced in May, Trump dropped the lawsuit, and the DOJ established a $1.776 billion fund intended to compensate individuals whom the administration said had been targeted by federal law enforcement for political reasons.
Trump himself framed the fund as restitution. The New York Post reported that the president described the potential payouts as "a reimbursement for the pain that they suffered," adding, "A lot of people like it." January 6 defendants were among those who could have received compensation.
But the fund drew sharp criticism from lawmakers in both parties. Republican senators worried it bypassed congressional authority over federal spending. Democrats opposed it outright. The backlash was broad enough that Cornyn and Tillis refused to advance Blanche's nomination without a formal, written guarantee that the fund was dead, not just a verbal promise.
Blanche's order made the termination unambiguous. The DOJ's written directive declared the fund "rescinded" and "having no force or effect." It went further, stating that no members had ever been appointed to oversee the fund, no money had been transferred, no claims process had been established, and no payments had been made.
AP News reported that the order stated plainly:
"This order establishes, beyond any doubt, that there is no Fund."
Senator Cornyn suggested the negotiations had not been complicated by the DOJ but by the president. Breitbart reported Cornyn's account of the talks:
"I think as far as Blanche and the Department of Justice, we were pretty much on the same page. But then when the president got wind of it, he wasn't willing to go along with it."
That remark suggests the delay was not a matter of legal drafting but of political will, and that Blanche ultimately had to navigate between the senators whose votes he needed and a president who favored keeping the fund alive.
Once the written order was issued, both holdouts fell in line. Cornyn's spokesperson, Natalie Yezbick, told Fox News that the senator "has reached an agreement with the Department of Justice, which will be issuing a formal order permanently terminating the anti-weaponization fund." Cornyn and Tillis released a joint statement expressing gratitude to Blanche and his staff "for working with us on this," and said they looked forward to advancing his nomination out of committee.
The fund was not the only sticking point. The original IRS settlement also included an addendum that shielded Trump and his businesses from IRS tax enforcement. That provision stayed in place, but Blanche's order narrowed its scope in writing.
The DOJ clarified that the tax audit immunity applies only retroactively, covering claims that were open at the time of the settlement. It does not protect Trump or his family from future tax filing examinations. Blanche defended the provision during testimony before a House committee, as Just The News reported:
"It's nothing that gives any sort of immunity in the future to the president or his family or his organizations."
Democrats have opposed the addendum regardless of the retroactive limitation. But the narrowing was enough to satisfy Cornyn and Tillis, who had pressed for clarity on both the fund and the tax protections before committing their votes.
In the order itself, Blanche struck a conciliatory tone. USA Today reported on his statement accompanying the directive:
"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 language was careful. Blanche did not characterize the concession as a retreat. He presented it as the natural outcome of consultation with the Senate, the body whose consent he needs to hold the job permanently.
The Senate Judiciary Committee vote on Tuesday will be the first real test. Republicans hold a narrow majority on the panel, and with every Democrat expected to oppose Blanche, any single Republican defection would sink the nomination at the committee level. Cornyn and Tillis have now publicly committed to voting yes, but the margin for error remains zero.
If the committee advances the nomination, it moves to the full Senate floor, where the math is similarly tight. Blanche has served as acting attorney general since taking over the DOJ, but the confirmation would make his authority permanent and end the cloud of uncertainty that has hung over the department's leadership.
The episode exposed a tension that runs through the current Republican majority. Cornyn and Tillis did not object to Blanche's qualifications or his record. They objected to a mechanism, a nearly $1.8 billion fund, that they believed sidestepped Congress's constitutional power over spending. Their insistence on a written order, rather than a handshake, reflected a concern about institutional precedent, not partisan disloyalty.
Blanche, for his part, gave up the fund without a public fight. He chose confirmation over confrontation. Whether that trade costs him standing with the president or earns him credibility with the Senate remains to be seen.
When two senators from your own party force you to put a promise in writing before they'll vote for you, the message is clear: trust runs on paper, not on goodwill, and Congress still expects to hold the purse strings.
