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Blanche bid to move ahead with 'weaponization' fund 'dead'

Roll Call · back to the audit
The Senate is back on track to consider acting Attorney General Todd Blanche's nomination to lead the Justice Department permanently after two key GOP holdouts said they were "pleased" with a deal they struck.

The DOJ said in a statement posted Sunday night that it has "rescinded" a $1.8 billion "anti-weaponization" fund meant to compensate people targeted by the federal government. The fund was part of a settlement brokered by Blanche that resolved President Donald Trump's $10 billion suit against the Internal Revenue Service tied to the release of his tax returns during his first term in office.

It was enough to satisfy Sens. John Cornyn, R-Texas, and Thom Tillis, R-N.C., who expressed "gratitude" in a Monday statement and wrote, "We look forward to voting to advance his nomination out of the Senate Judiciary Committee soon."

The Judiciary panel is now scheduled to vote on Blanche's nomination Tuesday morning, after canceling a meeting last week.

Cornyn and Tillis also pointed to written reassurances about tax audit immunity granted to Trump and family members, saying the department had acknowledged that "the audit settlement is limited to the plaintiffs and the scope does not extend beyond the defendants in the lawsuit, the IRS and the Treasury, addressing concerns that multiple of our Republican colleagues share."

It comes after the pair had threatened to withhold their votes for Blanche without assurances "in writing" that the fund was dead and immunity narrowed.

Cornyn and Tillis hold sway on the Judiciary Committee, as Republicans can afford to lose only one GOP senator if all Democrats vote against advancing the nomination. While senators could in theory still vote on the floor without committee approval, it would require more procedural steps.

Blanche had testified that the weaponization fund was "dead" during his Judiciary panel confirmation hearing earlier this month, but Cornyn and Tillis had said that testimony alone was not enough to convince them.

"The Acting Attorney General stands by all of his July 15, 2026, Senate Judiciary Committee testimony," DOJ said in the statement posted Sunday night.