Trump defends ‘weaponization’ fund amid Blanche confirmation drama
As his nominee for attorney general hangs in the balance, President Donald Trump dug in on Friday, defending a controversial settlement that has angered some Republicans in the Senate.
Read more Senate Democrats continue staff diversity survey, despite Trump’s anti-DEI trend
It further upended Todd Blanche’s bid to permanently lead the Justice Department, as senators look for a path forward after canceling a planned Judiciary Committee markup this week.
“This has nothing to do with Todd,” Trump told reporters at a Cabinet meeting Friday. “He should be approved forthwith.”
Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, one of the GOP holdouts, agrees on at least one point: “I think Todd Blanche is about as good a nominee as you’re going to get from this administration. So it’s really not about him.”
He and Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., want to see changes to a settlement that Blanche brokered between Trump and the Internal Revenue Service earlier this year that granted the president immunity from tax audits. That deal also established a $1.8 billion fund designed to compensate people harmed by government “weaponization.”
Before they can support Blanche’s confirmation, Cornyn and Tillis want assurances “in writing” to narrow the scope of the audit immunity and confirm the fund is now “dead.”
The Justice Department has been without a permanent head since Pamela Bondi’s ouster in April. The Senate confirmed Blanche as deputy attorney general last year, and hehas been temporarily acting in the top spot.
Trump on Thursday threatened to extend that status quo until Cornyn and Tillis, whose terms expire Jan. 3, are no longer in the picture. He said he could withdraw Blanche’s nomination, leave Blanche in the acting role and simply try again next year.
But the president appeared to pull a 180 on Friday, posting to Truth Social that Blanche “should be immediately approved.” He accused Cornyn of feeling jilted after Trump declined to endorse his reelection bid.
“John Cornyn never had a problem with the so called ‘Fund,’ which will not benefit me, but rather the great American Patriots who were hunted down like dogs and whose lives were unfairly and illegally destroyed by the Crooked Joe Biden Administration, until after I decided to Endorse and Support his Republican Primary opponent in Texas,” Trump wrote.
He went on to claim that Cornyn agreed with him “until he lost his Election to an opponent that I Endorsed.”
The DOJ announced the fund — part of settling a lawsuit brought by Trump against his own administration following the leak of his tax returns during his first term — on May 18. Trump endorsed Ken Paxton on May 19.
Read more Cornyn won’t ‘cave’ on Blanche, he says
Cornyn has dismissed Trump’s assertion it was political revenge on his part: “That’s a convenient excuse, and it happens to be untrue,” Cornyn said Wednesday.
Trump, at Friday’s Cabinet meeting, said the fund was “dead, but I wish it weren’t.” He didn’t answer questions about why he wouldn’t put that in writing for the senators.
Some had worried the fund would be used to pay out rioters prosecuted for storming Capitol Police on Jan. 6, 2021. Trump reiterated Friday that he would like to see alleged victims “compensated for the pain.”
Tillis and Cornyn met with Blanche several times this week — including as recently as Thursday night — and have exchanged several back-and-forth red-lines with the Justice Department, but the pair hasn’t budged on needing reassurance in writing to not “revitalize those provisions at a later date,” as Cornyn described this week.
The two hold sway on the Judiciary Committee, as Republicans can afford to lose only one GOP senator if all Democrats vote against advancing the nomination. While senators could in theory still vote on the floor without committee approval, it would require more procedural steps.
Tillis on Friday posted that Trump’s Truth Social post “made it clear today that the so-called Anti Weaponization Fund is still alive, which is exactly why we are attempting to formally end it.”
But Tillis laid the blame at the feet of the president’s advisers, not Trump himself.
“It’s a shame [Blanche’s] confirmation has hit a snag only because an incompetent personal advisor to the President refuses to amend the bogus settlement. I will continue working in good faith to put an end [to] this legal and political albatross and prevent any potential misallocation of taxpayer dollars,” he said.
Before leaving the Capitol on Thursday, Cornyn had said they were “very close” to resolving differences with the Justice Department, “but it’s clear that the president decided that was unacceptable.”
Cornyn also hinted that objections to the fund and tax audit immunity provisions extend beyond just him and Tillis. While Blanche said during his confirmation hearing that the fund was “dead,” not everyone was convinced, including senators who don’t sit on the committee.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, told reporters on Thursday afternoon she has “made it very clear where my concerns were” in relation to the anti-weaponization fund. “‘What can you do to narrow the scope of the IRS settlement agreement? How can you give us the assurance that this anti-weaponization fund is truly dead?’” she recounted of an earlier meeting she said she had with Blanche.
Read more CDC, public health preparedness nominees advance in Senate
Valerie Yurk, Michael Macagnone and John T. Bennett contributed to this report.
