Todd Blanche scraps controversial anti-weaponisation fund in bid to revive attorney general nomination
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "Todd Blanche scraps controversial anti-weaponisation fund in bid to revive attorney general nomination")
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche attends a Cabinet Meeting at Camp Davaid, the presidential retreat, on July 31, 2026 in Camp David, Maryland. Photograph: (AFP)
Todd Blanche has formally scrapped a controversial $1.8 billion anti-weaponisation fund and restricted Trump family tax immunity following pushback from Senate Republicans, unblocking his attorney general nomination.
US President Donald Trump's nominee for attorney general, Todd Blanche, has formally rescinded the controversial $1.8 billion anti-weaponisation fund after opposition from key Senate Republicans threatened to derail his confirmation bid. Blanche announced the decision in a post on X late on Sunday (Aug 2), saying he and his team had held discussions with members of the Senate Judiciary Committee to address concerns surrounding the programme.
"My team and I have met with committee members and Senators over the past several weeks and addressed any concerns or outstanding questions," Blanche wrote. "We have enjoyed good faith discussions, and as a result issue the following order and update with regard to the May IRS settlement."
Attached to the post was an order dated Sunday stating that the attorney general's May 18, 2026 order establishing the Anti-Weaponisation Fund "is rescinded and shall have no force or effect."
The fund, created under a settlement agreement between Trump's personal lawyers and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), became the biggest obstacle to Blanche's nomination. Republican Senators John Cornyn of Texas and Thom Tillis of North Carolina, both members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, had raised objections and signalled they could block his confirmation unless the arrangement was scrapped.
Although Blanche had previously declared the fund was "dead" and the Justice Department had informed courts that the programme had been abandoned, officials had stopped short of issuing a formal written order. The proposed fund would have provided taxpayer money to individuals claiming they had been victims of alleged political weaponisation by the federal government, including people involved in the January 6, 2021 attack on the US Capitol.
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The new order also narrows the scope of an addendum to the IRS settlement that granted immunity from tax investigations to Trump and members of his family. According to the document, the provision applies only retrospectively and only to the named parties in the original lawsuit.
