WASHINGTON (AP) โ Two Republican senators who threatened to block acting Attorney General Todd Blanche‘s bid to lead the Justice Department said Monday that they will vote to advance his nomination, ending an impasse over plans to create a fund to compensate allies of President Donald Trump.
The statement from Republican Sens. John Cornyn and Thom Tillis came after Blanche issued an order late Sunday formally rescinding the $1.8 billion โAnti-Weaponization Fundโ to compensate people who believe they were unfairly prosecuted by the Justice Department.
Cornyn and Tillis, whose votes Blanche needs to advance through the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday, had said they would not endorse his nomination without written confirmation that the fund is dead.
โWe 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, who are not returning to the Senate next year, said in a statement.
DOJ order says โbeyond any doubtโ that fund is dead
Blanche said at a June hearing that the Justice Department would not move forward with the fund 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 skeptical lawmakers said they were concerned that it could be revived without a commitment in writing, especially because Trump has continued to defend the idea.
In a statement accompanying the order Sunday, the Justice Department said that โalthough 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, todayโs Order officially rescinds the May 18, 2026 Order.โ
Since the settlement of the president’s lawsuit against the IRS was announced, โNo Members were appointed; no funds were transferred; no process for receiving claims was established; no claims were paid,โ the order says. โThis order establishes, beyond any doubt, that there is no Fund.โ
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.
The deal clarifies that the tax audit immunity agreement โapplies by its terms only retroactivelyโ to claims open at the time of the settlement and does not protect the president from examination of future tax filings.
Cornyn, Tillis echo GOP colleagues’ concerns as they block Blanche nomination
Cornyn, who lost reelection this year after Trump endorsed his primary opponent, and Tillis, who is retiring when his term ends in January, have blocked Blanche’s nomination as many of their GOP colleagues have criticized the fund.
The Judiciary Committee postponed a vote on Blancheโs nomination 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.
The two senators have repeatedly said the Justice Department seemed interested in reaching an agreement, but the White House wouldnโt budge even to aid the confirmation of Trumpโs loyal former personal attorney, who has aggressively pursued the administrationโs priorities as acting attorney general.
โI think as far as Blanche and the Department of Justice, we were pretty much on the same page,โ Cornyn said Thursday. โBut then when the president got wind of it, he wasnโt willing to go along with it.โ
Blanche, who served as Trumpโs 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.
Though Blanche insisted he wasnโt auditioning for the permanent job, he has moved aggressively to pursue the Trump administrationโs agenda and accelerate investigations into the presidentโs perceived foes.
Trump continues to express support for his settlement
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.
After the Thursday vote was delayed, Trump said in a social media post that he might pull Blancheโs nomination and resubmit it after Cornyn and Tillis leave office next year.
On Sunday evening, Trump said that people who had faced charges from the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol and could have benefited from the fund had โtheir lives destroyed.โ
โThis would be a reimbursement for the pain that they suffered,โ Trump said. โA lot of people like it.โ
On Friday, Trumpโs attorneys notified a court they would appeal a judgeโs scathing ruling that characterized the settlement of the presidentโs lawsuit against the IRS as an improper exercise in self-dealing. The judge in her order last month referred one of Trumpโs attorneys for potential disciplinary action and criticized Blancheโs involvement in the settlement, given his prior representation of Trump.
Blanche has said he disagrees โwith the judgeโs insinuationsโ about him. Justice Department lawyers had previously written in court papers that the fund was not moving forward but they refused a judgeโs 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.
The Justice Department said the courtโs demands were โunnecessary.โ
