Blanche wins Senate support after scrapping Trump anti-weaponization fund

Todd Blanche moved closer to becoming permanent attorney general after scrapping President Donald Trump’s anti-weaponization fund, a concession that won over Republican Sens. John Cornyn of Texas and Thom Tillis of North Carolina. The two senators announced Monday that they would back Blanche’s nomination after the Justice Department dropped the proposal that had become the central obstacle to his confirmation.

The fund had been described inside the Justice Department as a $1.8 billion pool for Trump allies who said they had been unfairly targeted by the federal government. The original May 18, 2026, order called for a payment of $1,776,000,000 into a designated account for the fund’s sole use. In a rescission order issued Sunday evening, Blanche formally canceled that plan and said the May 18 order had no force or effect. The Justice Department also said no members were appointed, no funds were transferred, no claims process was established and no claims were paid.

The move ended a standoff that had already slowed Blanche’s nomination in the Senate Judiciary Committee. Cornyn and Tillis had signaled that they were prepared to block him if the issue was not addressed, turning the fund into a test of how much latitude Senate Republicans were willing to give Trump’s Justice Department. Blanche had previously told lawmakers on Capitol Hill that the department would not move forward with the proposed fund, a promise that became the basis for the compromise.

The agreement matters because the fight was never just about one account or one payment plan. It set a line inside the GOP over what kind of power is acceptable inside the Justice Department under Trump, especially when that power is aimed at compensating allies who claimed they were wrongly targeted. The fund dispute also sat alongside other Republican concerns about Blanche’s handling of January 6-related issues, adding to the scrutiny around his nomination. With Cornyn and Tillis now on board, Blanche cleared a major hurdle in the Senate, and the same rescission that ended the fund also reopened his path to the attorney general job.