Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche ended a tense, weekslong standoff with congressional holdouts on Sunday night by officially scrapping a controversial 1.8 billion dollar anti weaponization fund. In a post on X, Blanche stated that after productive and good faith discussions with senators, he had issued a signed order ensuring the fund no longer has any legal force or effect. This sudden reversal comes just two days before the Senate Judiciary Committee is scheduled to vote on Blanche’s permanent appointment as attorney general, suggesting the move was a necessary concession to secure his confirmation.
The fund originated from a settlement involving a lawsuit filed by President Donald Trump against the IRS, which critics feared could have allowed government payouts to reach individuals involved in the January 6 Capitol riot. Key Republican senators, specifically John Cornyn of Texas and Thom Tillis of North Carolina, had made their support for Blanche contingent on the total elimination of the fund. While some officials had previously suggested the money was already gone, former president Trump had expressed interest as recently as Saturday in pushing to revive the initiative, adding further tension to the negotiations.
Beyond killing the fund itself, the new agreement tightens the restrictions surrounding tax audit protections for the First Family. A spokesperson for Senator Cornyn confirmed that a binding written document now limits the scope of the original IRS settlement strictly to the named plaintiffs. Crucially, this means that while certain retroactive claims remain protected, the president will not be immune from examinations of his future tax filings. By resolving these disputes through a formal order, Blanche appears to have cleared his path toward official confirmation by satisfying both fiscal hawks and those concerned with judicial impartiality.