Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche issues order rescinding "anti-weaponization" fund

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche issued an order Sunday evening formally rescinding plans to create a $1.8 billion fund meant to compensate allies of President Trump.

The order came after weeks of negotiations with Republican Sens. Thom Tillis and John Cornyn, who were threatening to block Blanche's confirmation for the permanent position to lead the Justice Department.

"The Attorney General's May 18, 2026 Order establishing the Anti-Weaponization Fund ('Fund') is rescinded and shall have no force or effect," the order states.

"For the avoidance of doubt, nothing in this Order is intended to contradict or otherwise be contrary to prior representations by the Department of Justice that the Fund is not operative. No Members were appointed; no funds were transferred; no process for receiving claims was established; no claims were paid. Nevertheless, several frivolous lawsuits have been filed challenging the Fund, and at least one court has declined to dismiss those claims as moot," it continues. "This Order establishes, beyond any doubt, that there is no Fund."

Tillis and Cornyn have refused to vote for Blanche as the full-time attorney general unless it is put in writing that Mr. Trump will no longer pursue the "anti-weaponization" fund, a nearly $1.8 billion fund to pay people who claim they were politically persecuted that was announced in May as part of a settlement to resolve a lawsuit brought by the president against the IRS and Treasury Department. 

The document released by Blanche on Sunday night also limits the scope of another provision of the settlement that provided broad immunity for Mr. Trump and members of his family from tax audits. It clarifies that the tax audit immunity agreement "applies only retroactively" to claims open at the time of the settlement and does not protect the president from examination of future tax filings.  

"My team and I have met with committee members and Senators over the past several weeks and addressed any concerns or outstanding questions," Blanche said in a post on X. We have enjoyed good faith discussions, and as a result issue the following order."

Cornyn and Tillis said on Monday that they will vote to advance Blanche's nomination out of the Senate Judiciary Committee given his commitments on the fund and the immunity provisions of the settlement.

Critics say the fund could come back

On Monday, a former Justice Department lawyer said Blanche's unilateral rescission of the creation of the "anti-weaponization" fund does not have any legal effect and does not prevent the fund from being revived in the future.

"I think this is all for political show. [Blanche] can withdraw it the day he enters office. He could issue a new order. The sons could sue to enforce it and they can settle a new lawsuit," said Rupa Bhattacharyya, a former Justice Department attorney who now serves as legal director for the Georgetown University Law Center's Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection.

She told CBS News that nothing has ever prevented the Justice Department from using its existing legal authority to pay out timely administrative claims brought against the department by defendants charged for conduct on Jan. 6, 2021, under the Federal Tort Claims Act, either.

"There are all sorts of ways this can come back," she said.

After being delayed last week due to Cornyn and Tillis' objections, a Senate Judiciary Committee vote on Blanche was scheduled for Tuesday.

After the Thursday vote postponement, Mr. Trump said in a social media post that he might pull Blanche's nomination and resubmit it after Cornyn and Tillis leave office next year.

At his confirmation hearing earlier this month, Blanche insisted the fund was "dead."

Cornyn noted the settlement states any changes to it must be agreed upon in writing by all parties involved. 

"Has there been a written agreement of the parties to modify the settlement fund?" Cornyn asked.

"No, the settlement fund is just not moving forward," Blanche responded. "There's no modification. It never started. No money went from the Treasury to any other account." 

The acting attorney general's office said Sunday night that Blanche "stands by all of his July 15, 2026 Senate Judiciary Committee testimony, including answers to questions asked by Senator Cornyn related to the scope and applicability of the May 19, 2026 Order," and included a transcript of the exchange with the order.

Mr. Trump threatened on Saturday to push to revive the fund if Tillis and Cornyn did not back Blanche as attorney general.

"If Senators Cornyn and Tillis, both upset because I wouldn't Endorse them (they lost, and quit, respectively!), aren't going to approve Todd Blanche, one of the most respected professionals, according to everybody, in the Country, to be the United States Attorney General, then I will keep Todd as Acting A.G., and push hard to get the Anti-Weaponization Bill, which takes care of those who have been so badly treated by the Crooked Joe Biden (and Obuma!) Administration (I get nothing, although I was treated horribly!), PASSED," the president wrote Saturday morning on Truth Social.

The "anti-weaponization" fund was temporarily blocked by a federal judge in May amid a series of lawsuits. The Justice Department said in June court filings that the fund was not going forward and argued the lawsuits against it should be rendered moot. 

On the heels of Blanche's announcement Sunday, lawyers for plaintiffs in one of the lawsuits sent a letter to senior Justice Department officials seeking additional confirmation that the "anti-weaponization" fund cannot be revived. 

"The Acting Attorney General's public statements last night and today do not address or repudiate the President's statements over the weekend that the Fund may be operational in the future," the lawyers wrote Monday. "For all intents and purposes, despite the Acting Attorney General's efforts to have the public and lawmakers believe otherwise, it appears that the Anti-Weaponization Fund is as viable today as it was the day it was created."

Among the information the lawyers are seeking is whether the Justice Department secured a written agreement from Mr. Trump and the IRS amending the settlement agreement that created the fund.

Mr. Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Monday that he did not know what Blanche agreed to do regarding the program, but said "there's been a sign-off."

"I think Todd Blanche agreed to reconfirm things that he's already said and what he said was OK," he said.

The president continued to defend the program, telling reporters that it could've given people who claimed they were unfairly targeted by the government "some solace."

"I view that fund as a positive," he said.

Democrats, who have called it a "slush fund," and a number of Republicans besides Cornyn and Tillis have previously stated their opposition to the fund, making the prospect of any future implementation or passage questionable, despite the president's weekend ultimatum.

Tillis, in response to Mr. Trump, said Saturday on X, "Despite comments as late as yesterday that the fund is dead, President Trump clearly intends to resurrect the payout pot for punks either by inappropriately establishing another bogus fund or pushing Congress to vote for a bill that the majority of Republicans in the Senate would be against."

Blanche, who served as Mr. Trump's 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 the president, who was frustrated by her failure to successfully prosecute his political enemies.

Though Blanche insisted he wasn't auditioning for the permanent job, he has moved aggressively to pursue the Trump administration's agenda and accelerate investigations into the president's perceived foes.