Overview
- Sen. John Cornyn canceled a planned meeting with acting Attorney General Todd Blanche on Wednesday and said he will not vote to advance the nomination without written proof that the $1.8 billion “Anti‑Weaponization Fund” is dead and that audit protections are narrowed.
- Sen. Thom Tillis has joined Cornyn in withholding support and has told the Justice Department he needs clear, written changes to the settlement before he will back Blanche in the Senate Judiciary Committee.
- The Justice Department says it provided a written proposal to Cornyn’s staff to address the concerns, but Cornyn and his aides say the materials are not responsive and have pressed for specific redlined language in the settlement.
- The contested May settlement originally included a roughly $1.776–$1.8 billion fund to compensate people who claimed wrongful targeting and language that restricted IRS audits for the president and close associates, provisions that federal judges have criticized or blocked and that drew bipartisan outrage.
- Blanche needs every Republican on the Judiciary Committee to advance and the unresolved document dispute could delay Thursday’s scheduled committee vote, heighten scrutiny from courts and survivors of Jeffrey Epstein, and shape how the Justice Department handles similar settlements going forward.