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15h ago

Blanche Rescinds $1.8 Billion ‘Anti‑Weaponization’ Fund to Clear Confirmation Hurdle

Blanche’s signed order seeks to satisfy two Republican holdouts and set a Tuesday Judiciary Committee vote.

FILE - Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche appears before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, July 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File)
Acting U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche walks through the Hart Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., U.S., July 29, 2026.
Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., arrives for a hearing of the Senate Finance Committee on Capitol Hill, Thursday, July 30, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
FILE - Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche speaks during a news conference on unaccompanied children at the Justice Department, June 11, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta, File)

Overview

  • Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche signed a formal order on Sunday that rescinds the May 18 directive creating the roughly $1.8 billion fund and states the fund “shall have no force or effect.”
  • Senators John Cornyn and Thom Tillis responded that they will support advancing Blanche’s nomination out of the Senate Judiciary Committee, removing the primary GOP blockade to a committee vote.
  • Blanche’s order also narrowed the IRS audit-protection language so it applies only retroactively to claims already open at the time of the settlement and does not bar future IRS examinations.
  • Legal challenges continue because judges and plaintiffs’ lawyers have pressed for sworn declarations and argue the attorney general’s rescission could be reversed by a future leader or fail to satisfy court orders.
  • President Trump has defended the original fund and signaled he may seek to revive similar protections through legislation or future action, a development that could keep the dispute alive even if Blanche is advanced.