Blanche says Trump administration’s anti-weaponization fund is dead

Todd Blanche told the Senate Judiciary Committee that the Trump administration’s $1.8 billion anti-weaponization fund was finished, but John Cornyn pressed him on whether that meant the underlying settlement could still be enforced. Blanche said it was “a moot issue” and added, “The weaponization fund is dead,” while also saying the settlement agreement remained an “enforceable document” even if the Justice Department would not move forward.

It grew out of Donald Trump’s $10 billion lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service after a contractor leaked his tax returns, and the settlement also included an IRS audit shield that covered Trump, his business and family members. Democrats and outside critics called the proposed fund a payout for Trump allies, not a neutral anti-abuse measure, and the announcement quickly drew Republican blowback that complicated Senate GOP work on a separate immigration enforcement bill.

At a June 2 House Appropriations hearing, Blanche said, “We’re not moving forward with the fund, period.” By then, a federal judge had paused the administration’s ability to administer the program, and on June 19 U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema in Alexandria, Virginia, issued a preliminary injunction blocking the Justice Department from creating or operating it. Brinkema also sought a sworn declaration that the program would not proceed “in any manner, or under any name.”

Cornyn asked whether the move to end the fund was a real policy reversal or just confirmation-hearing damage control. Blanche said there had been no written agreement modifying the settlement fund, but he said the Justice Department could not be forced to proceed with it even if Trump’s side chose to sue for breach of contract. A single Republican no on the Judiciary Committee could stop Blanche if Democrats unite against him.

Dick Durbin, the panel’s top Democrat, said Blanche privately called the fund “a mistake” in a courtesy meeting before the hearing and told him he would work with Congress to “codify” its ending. Durbin also said the committee was preparing to examine the settlement, the fund and a related federal ruling that found the case had been brought to manipulate the judicial process. Thom Tillis had already warned the issue would remain a problem unless the fund was effectively dead by the confirmation hearing.