{"id":767,"date":"2026-07-31T19:42:01","date_gmt":"2026-07-31T19:42:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/americanindustryreview.com\/?p=767"},"modified":"2026-07-31T19:42:01","modified_gmt":"2026-07-31T19:42:01","slug":"trump-defends-weaponization-fund-amid-blanche-confirmation-drama","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/americanindustryreview.com\/?p=767","title":{"rendered":"Trump defends \u2018weaponization\u2019 fund amid Blanche confirmation drama"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

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.<\/p>\n

Read more Senate Democrats continue staff diversity survey, despite Trump\u2019s anti-DEI trend<\/a><\/p>\n

It further upended Todd Blanche\u2019s bid to permanently lead the Justice Department, as senators look for a path forward after canceling a planned Judiciary Committee markup this week.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis has nothing to do with Todd,\u201d Trump told reporters at a Cabinet meeting Friday. \u201cHe should be approved forthwith.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, one of the GOP holdouts, agrees on at least one point: \u201cI think Todd Blanche is about as good a nominee as you\u2019re going to get from this administration. So it\u2019s really not about him.\u201d<\/p>\n

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 \u201cweaponization.\u201d<\/p>\n

Before they can support Blanche\u2019s confirmation, Cornyn and Tillis want assurances \u201cin writing\u201d to narrow the scope of the audit immunity and confirm the fund is now \u201cdead.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Justice Department has been without a permanent head since Pamela Bondi\u2019s ouster in April. The Senate confirmed Blanche as deputy attorney general last year, and hehas been temporarily acting in the top spot.<\/p>\n

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\u2019s nomination, leave Blanche in the acting role and simply try again next year.<\/p>\n

But the president appeared to pull a 180 on Friday, posting to Truth Social that Blanche \u201cshould be immediately approved.\u201d He accused Cornyn of feeling jilted after Trump declined to endorse his reelection bid.<\/p>\n

\u201cJohn Cornyn never had a problem with the so called \u2018Fund,\u2019 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,\u201d Trump wrote.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He went on to claim that Cornyn agreed with him \u201cuntil he lost his Election to an opponent that I Endorsed.\u201d<\/p>\n

The DOJ announced the fund \u2014 part of settling a lawsuit brought by Trump against his own administration following the leak of his tax returns during his first term \u2014 on May 18. Trump endorsed Ken Paxton on May 19.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Read more Cornyn won\u2019t \u2018cave\u2019 on Blanche, he says<\/a><\/p>\n

Cornyn has dismissed Trump\u2019s assertion it was political revenge on his part: \u201cThat\u2019s a convenient excuse, and it happens to be untrue,\u201d Cornyn said Wednesday.<\/p>\n

Trump, at Friday\u2019s Cabinet meeting, said the fund was \u201cdead, but I wish it weren\u2019t.\u201d He didn\u2019t answer questions about why he wouldn\u2019t put that in writing for the senators.<\/p>\n

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 \u201ccompensated for the pain.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Tillis and Cornyn met with Blanche several times this week \u2014 including as recently as Thursday night \u2014 and have exchanged several back-and-forth red-lines with the Justice Department, but the pair hasn\u2019t budged on needing reassurance in writing to not \u201crevitalize those provisions at a later date,\u201d as Cornyn described this week.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Tillis on Friday posted that Trump\u2019s Truth Social post \u201cmade it clear today that the so-called Anti Weaponization Fund is still alive, which is exactly why we are attempting to formally end it.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Tillis laid the blame at the feet of the president\u2019s advisers, not Trump himself.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a shame [Blanche\u2019s] 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,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Before leaving the Capitol on Thursday, Cornyn had said they were \u201cvery close\u201d to resolving differences with the Justice Department, \u201cbut it\u2019s clear that the president decided that was unacceptable.\u201d<\/p>\n

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 \u201cdead,\u201d \u00a0not everyone was convinced, including senators who don\u2019t sit on the committee.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, told reporters on Thursday afternoon she has \u201cmade it very clear where my concerns were\u201d in relation to the anti-weaponization fund. \u201c\u2018What 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?\u2019\u201d she recounted of an earlier meeting she said she had with Blanche.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Read more CDC, public health preparedness nominees advance in Senate<\/a><\/p>\n

Valerie Yurk, Michael Macagnone and John T. Bennett contributed to this report.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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. 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