Blanche says DOJ "not moving forward" with $1.8 billion "anti-weaponization" fund

Washington — Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said on Tuesday that the Justice Department is not moving forward with its $1.8 billion "anti-weaponization" fund that has become a major obstacle to the GOP agenda in Congress.

"We are not moving forward with the fund. Period," he told lawmakers on the House Appropriations Committee. 

"Not moving forward ever?" Democratic Rep. Grace Meng of New York asked. 

"Correct," Blanche responded. 

Meng asked whether Blanche would put that commitment in writing. He responded that it would be in writing through a transcript of the hearing. She followed up on the point later in the hearing and Blanche again declined to commit to put anything in writing. 

"Why do I need to put something in writing if I'm telling you what we're doing?" he said. 

"You established it in writing, so it just makes sense to rescind it in writing," Meng said. 

"I'm just concerned 'cause you're not under oath, and I want to trust you and I want to believe you — we all do — but putting it in writing would settle that issue," Meng added.  

Blanche's testimony comes a day after the Justice Department said it will stop work on the fund following a district judge's decision temporarily blocking the establishment of the program.

The fund faced intense pushback from Republicans on Capitol Hill, who warned that it threatened to imperil the GOP agenda. Some Republicans continued to express reservations Tuesday that prevented leaders from moving forward with funding the Department of Homeland Security's immigration enforcement agencies.

Whether Blanche's testimony proves definitive enough to win over GOP detractors remains to be seen. The establishment of the fund was also part of a legal settlement, raising questions about how exactly Blanche intends to abandon the program.

Lawyers for President Trump did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether he has agreed to drop the fund from the settlement.

The fund aimed to provide taxpayer-funded payouts to individuals who alleged the federal government had been "weaponized" against them. But Republican opposition to the plan led GOP leaders to scrap a vote on the DHS funding late last month. Democrats threatened to force votes on amendments on the fund, putting Republicans in a difficult position. And with some GOP members likely to join Democrats, GOP leaders opted to abandon their plans and leave town for a weeklong recess. 

Blanche told Democratic Rep. Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut that the rest of the settlement between the IRS and Mr. Trump, from which the weaponization fund stemmed, remains in place, including the government's agreement to refrain from auditing any of the president or his family's previous tax returns. She read the portion of the agreement that would provide them with immunity from all civil or criminal tax actions on all prior tax returns.

"But you are moving forward with this second order," she said. 

"It's not moving forward. There's a settlement," Blanche replied. "There's a settlement that the IRS entered into with President Trump and others, his family and his companies, as part of that settlement, as is customary in IRS settlements, and there's a separate AG order."

Ahead of Blanche's testimony on Tuesday, Senate Majority Leader John Thune said senators had a "robust conversation" about the fund and how to proceed at their GOP lunch meeting, while pointing out that Blanche would testify later in the afternoon.

"I had a conversation with him a couple hours ago, in which he kind of previewed what he was going to say," Thune said. "And I think his statements are going to be very definitive, very clear, and create this certainty that I hope all of our members and House members need as well in order for us to proceed on the reconciliation bill."

But Thune added, "I'm not guaranteeing that happens yet," saying conversations continue with GOP members. 

"Everything dumbs down to a function of math — it's, do we have the votes? Do we have 50 votes to execute on getting a bill like that across the floor?" he said. "We have to have Republicans hanging together in order to do that."

Thune affirmed to CBS News ahead of the testimony that it's his understanding that the fund is off the table.

Senate Republicans leaving the lunch meeting indicated that they would be looking to Blanche's testimony for assurances, like Sen. John Kennedy of Louisiana, who said "if it goes like we are told it will go, there's a reasonable possibility we will move pretty quickly to the reconciliation."

But Sen. John Cornyn, a Texas Republican and the former GOP whip, told CBS News, "I'm not sure that's going to be good enough for some people."

House Speaker Mike Johnson said Tuesday that the fund was "off the table for consideration." Johnson met with Mr. Trump at the White House on Monday and said Blanche would offer more "clarity" on the issue during the hearing. 

"I told him that it was a difficult prospect right now, given our vote tallies," Johnson told CBS News. "I understand the intent behind it was a very noble thing. … But I don't think it was fully understood. And that's what made it a difficult thing."