Republican Sens. John Cornyn and Thom Tillis agreed to advance Todd Blanche’s attorney general nomination after the Justice Department formally eliminated a proposed fund for Trump allies and narrowed a separate tax-audit immunity provision.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche secured the support of two pivotal Republican senators Monday after formally rescinding a proposed $1.8 billion Justice Department fund that could have compensated people claiming they were unfairly prosecuted by the federal government.
Sens. John Cornyn of Texas and Thom Tillis of North Carolina said they would vote to advance Blanche’s nomination when the Senate Judiciary Committee considers it Tuesday. The decision resolves an impasse that forced the committee to postpone a previously scheduled vote last week.
Both senators had demanded written assurance that the proposed “Anti-Weaponization Fund” would not be created. Blanche had previously testified that the department would abandon the plan, but Cornyn and Tillis maintained that verbal assurances were insufficient because President Donald Trump continued publicly supporting the concept.
Blanche issued an order Sunday night formally rescinding the May 18, 2026, directive that established the framework for the fund.
“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,” Cornyn and Tillis said in a joint statement.
Their votes are necessary for Blanche to win committee approval and move toward consideration by the full Senate.
The Justice Department said Blanche had repeatedly informed Congress, including while testifying under oath and responding in writing, that the compensation fund would not proceed. Department attorneys had also made the same representation in federal court.
“Although the Acting Attorney General has repeatedly advised Congress through testimony, including under oath, as well as in written responses, that the Fund is not moving forward, and the Department has repeatedly represented to district courts that the Fund is not moving forward, today’s Order officially rescinds the May 18, 2026 Order,” the department said.
The rescission states that the proposed program never became operational following the settlement of Trump’s lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service.
“No Members were appointed; no funds were transferred; no process for receiving claims was established; no claims were paid,” the order says. “This order establishes, beyond any doubt, that there is no Fund.”
The proposal drew objections from members of both parties because people prosecuted for participating in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, including defendants accused of assaulting police officers, might have been eligible to seek compensation.
Blanche told lawmakers during a June confirmation hearing that the department had no intention of moving forward with the fund. Skeptical senators wanted that position formalized, however, citing concerns that the administration could revive the program without a binding written commitment.
Cornyn and Tillis delayed Blanche’s nomination as several other Republican senators also criticized the compensation proposal. The Judiciary Committee postponed a vote scheduled for Thursday morning after the two holdouts said they needed a stronger response from the administration.
Cornyn said Justice Department officials appeared willing to resolve the disagreement, but the White House initially resisted abandoning the fund.
“I think as far as Blanche and the Department of Justice, we were pretty much on the same page,” Cornyn said Thursday. “But then when the president got wind of it, he wasn’t willing to go along with it.”
Negotiations continued for several weeks as Trump repeatedly defended payments for people he said had been mistreated by the federal government. He also warned that the program could move ahead unless the Senate confirmed Blanche.
After the committee delayed its vote Thursday, Trump said he might withdraw the nomination and submit it again after Cornyn and Tillis leave the Senate next year.
Cornyn lost his reelection bid after Trump endorsed his Republican primary opponent. Tillis is retiring when his term expires in January.
Trump again defended the fund Sunday evening, saying people charged in connection with the Capitol attack had suffered severe personal consequences.
“This would be a reimbursement for the pain that they suffered,” Trump said. “A lot of people like it.”
In addition to abolishing the fund, Blanche’s Sunday order restricted a separate provision of the IRS settlement that had appeared to provide broad protection against tax audits for Trump and members of his family.
The revised language states that the immunity agreement “applies by its terms only retroactively” to claims that were open when the settlement was reached. It does not prevent federal authorities from examining future tax returns filed by the president or his relatives.
Trump’s attorneys notified a federal court Friday that they would appeal a judge’s ruling sharply criticizing the IRS settlement as an improper act of self-dealing.
The judge referred one of Trump’s attorneys for possible disciplinary action and questioned Blanche’s participation in the agreement because he previously represented Trump personally.
Blanche has said he disagrees “with the judge’s insinuations” concerning his conduct.
Justice Department lawyers had already told the court that the compensation fund would not be implemented. They declined, however, when the judge asked Blanche and other administration officials to submit declarations under penalty of perjury promising that no further effort would be made to create it.
Blanche entered the Justice Department last year as deputy attorney general after representing Trump in his criminal cases. Trump elevated him to acting attorney general following Pam Bondi’s dismissal in April.
The president removed Bondi after becoming frustrated by what he viewed as her failure to secure successful prosecutions of his political opponents.
Blanche has since pursued the administration’s priorities from the department’s highest position. Cornyn and Tillis’ decision to support him now places his nomination on course to advance from the Judiciary Committee after the written rescission satisfied their central demand.
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