{"id":26342,"date":"2026-08-03T18:12:17","date_gmt":"2026-08-03T13:12:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=26342"},"modified":"2026-08-03T18:12:17","modified_gmt":"2026-08-03T13:12:17","slug":"blanche-rescinds-fund-for-trump-allies-after-gop-senators-threaten-to-block-his-attorney-general-bid","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=26342","title":{"rendered":"Blanche rescinds fund for Trump allies after GOP senators threaten to block his attorney general bid"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div data-testid=\"prism-article-body\">\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao MvWXB TjIXL aGjvy ebVHC \"><span class=\"oyrPY qlwaB AGxeB  \">WASHINGTON &#8212; <\/span>Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche issued a formal order late Sunday terminating President Donald Trump\u2019s $1.8 billion \u201canti-weaponization fund\u201d to compensate his political allies, a move that follows weeks of negotiations with two Republican senators who were blocking his nomination to become attorney general.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">A spokeswoman for Texas Sen. John Cornyn, one of the senators holding up Blanche\u2019s nomination, confirmed the deal, which comes ahead of a Tuesday confirmation vote for Blanche\u2019s nomination in the Senate Judiciary Committee. The other GOP senator, North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis, did not have immediate comment.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Blanche said at a June hearing that the Justice Department would not move forward with the fund to compensate those who believe they were unfairly prosecuted, as he faced bipartisan outrage over the possibility that violent rioters who attacked police at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, could be considered for payments. But Cornyn and Tillis, both members of the Judiciary panel, have said they wanted to see the promise in writing before they endorsed Blanche&#8217;s nomination \u2014 especially as Trump continued to express support for the idea. <\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">In a statement, Blanche said the order came after \u201cgood faith discussions.\u201d <\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">\u201cMy team and I have met with committee members and Senators over the past several weeks and addressed any concerns or outstanding questions,&#8221; Blanche said. <\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">In a statement accompanying the order, the Justice Department said that \u201calthough 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\u2019s Order officially rescinds the May 18, 2026 Order.\u201d <\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Since the settlement of the president&#8217;s lawsuit against the IRS was announced, \u201cNo Members were appointed; no funds were transferred; no process for receiving claims was established; no claims were paid,\u201d the order says. \u201cThis order establishes, beyond any doubt, that there is no Fund.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">The document released by Blanche on Sunday night also limits the scope of another provision of the settlement that provided broad immunity for Trump and members of his family from tax audits. <\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">The deal clarifies that the tax audit immunity agreement \u201capplies by its terms only retroactively\u201d to claims open at the time of the settlement and does not protect the president from examination of future tax filings.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Cornyn, who <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/texas-senate-cornyn-paxton-trump-talarico-4fa609e7ddb93b47ac4e3398a12a472e\">lost reelection<\/a> this year after Trump endorsed his primary opponent, and Tillis, who is <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/tillis-senate-north-carolina-trump-reelection-republicans-382f72ff5228d864b38009904cbc4e6b\">retiring<\/a> when his term ends in January, have blocked Blanche&#8217;s nomination as many of their GOP colleagues have criticized the fund.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">The Judiciary Committee <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/todd-blanche-john-cornyn-attorney-general-nomination-b61afbc8fc5d6ab0e7d10cb828cd99cd\">postponed a vote on Blanche\u2019s nomination<\/a> that had been scheduled for Thursday morning after Tillis and Cornyn said they needed more from the administration before they could provide the necessary votes.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">The two senators have repeatedly said the Justice Department seemed interested in reaching an agreement, but the White House wouldn\u2019t budge even to aid the confirmation of Trump\u2019s loyal former personal attorney, who has <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/trump-blanche-justice-department-86f44c3c01caf89a1dae9d5b5c468551\">aggressively pursued the administration\u2019s priorities<\/a> as acting attorney general.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">\u201cI think as far as Blanche and the Department of Justice, we were pretty much on the same page,\u201d Cornyn said Thursday. \u201cBut then when the president got wind of it, he wasn\u2019t willing to go along with it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Blanche, who served as Trump\u2019s defense lawyer in his criminal cases, entered the Justice Department last year as deputy attorney general. He was elevated to the top post after Pam Bondi was fired in April by Trump, who was frustrated by her failure to successfully prosecute his political enemies. <\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Though Blanche insisted he wasn\u2019t auditioning for the permanent job, he has moved aggressively to pursue the Trump administration\u2019s agenda and accelerate investigations into the president\u2019s perceived foes.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">The two sides have been negotiating for weeks, but Trump has said repeatedly during the talks that he thinks the fund should go forward and threatened to move forward with it if Blanche was not confirmed. <\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">After the Thursday vote was delayed, Trump said in a social media post that <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/congress-blanche-attorney-general-nomination-trump-2b7240c1844c1efd298257fbb5771ad3\">he might pull Blanche\u2019s nomination<\/a> and resubmit it after Cornyn and Tillis leave office next year. <\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">On Sunday evening, Trump said that people who had faced charges from the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol and could have benefitted from the fund had \u201ctheir lives destroyed.\u201d <\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">\u201cThis would be a reimbursement for the pain that they suffered,\u201d Trump said. \u201cA lot of people like it.\u201d <\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">On Friday, Trump\u2019s attorneys notified a court they would appeal a judge\u2019s scathing ruling that characterized the settlement of the president\u2019s lawsuit against the IRS as an <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/trump-irs-justice-department-61adebe5de8982eb214b30889ad4f251\">improper exercise in self-dealing.<\/a> The judge in her order last month referred one of Trump\u2019s attorneys for potential disciplinary action and criticized Blanche\u2019s involvement in the settlement, given his prior representation of Trump.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Blanche has said he disagrees \u201cwith the judge\u2019s insinuations\u201d about him. Justice Department lawyers had previously written in court papers that the fund was not moving forward but they refused a judge\u2019s request to have Blanche and other administration officials file a declaration under penalty of perjury that the administration would not take any further action to create the fund.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC eTIW sUzSN \">The Justice Department said the court\u2019s demands were \u201cunnecessary.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>WASHINGTON &#8212; Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche issued a formal order late Sunday terminating President Donald Trump\u2019s $1.8 billion \u201canti-weaponization fund\u201d to compensate his political allies, a move that follows weeks of negotiations with two Republican senators who were blocking his nomination to become attorney general. A spokeswoman for Texas Sen. John Cornyn, one of&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":26343,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/i.abcnewsfe.com\/a\/f3b478ae-610f-4c22-8134-86c30ae9d241\/wirestory_a38decfc7f20e4f73a181914d53111da_16x9.jpg?w=1600","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26342","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-political-news"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26342","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=26342"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26342\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/26343"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=26342"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=26342"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=26342"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}