Trump Slush Fund Killed — What Changed?

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche has now put in writing that President Trump’s controversial $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund is dead, clearing the main roadblock to his Senate confirmation.

Story Snapshot

Blanche issued a formal order rescinding the $1.8 billion anti-weaponization fund “with no force or effect.”
The move follows a weeks-long standoff with Republican Senators John Cornyn and Thom Tillis over the fund and a Trump tax settlement.
Conservatives in Congress pushed for written guarantees so no future administration could revive the fund as a political slush pile.
With the fund scrapped in writing, Blanche’s path to becoming President Trump’s permanent attorney general is much clearer.

Blanche’s Written Order Scraps the Anti-Weaponization Fund

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche posted a signed order on X stating that the Justice Department’s May 18, 2026 directive creating the Anti-Weaponization Fund “is rescinded and shall have no force or effect.” The order adds that this “establishes, beyond any doubt, that there is no Fund.” Blanche told Americans his team met with senators for weeks and that the written rescission responds to their “good faith” concerns after the tense standoff.

Republican senators had grown alarmed that the fund, first pitched as a way to compensate people claiming “politically motivated prosecutions,” looked more like a special pool of taxpayer cash for Trump allies. The fund emerged from a settlement the Justice Department reached with President Trump over the leak of his tax returns, a deal valued at about $10 billion and including the $1.8 billion compensation program. Both Republicans and Democrats blasted the idea as a slush pile that could reward political loyalists.

How Cornyn and Tillis Forced the Fight Over Written Guarantees

Senators John Cornyn of Texas and Thom Tillis of North Carolina sit on the Senate Judiciary Committee and used their votes as leverage. The committee, narrowly controlled by Republicans, needs every Republican vote to advance Blanche’s nomination, so their holdout stalled hearings and delayed a planned vote. Both senators insisted that Blanche not only say the fund was dead, but also sign formal language ensuring it could not quietly return later under a future Justice Department interpretation.

Cornyn, a key swing vote, also demanded written changes to the broader settlement that protected Trump and his family from certain tax actions. Reporting shows he wanted clear limits so immunity would cover only past tax years, only Trump, his two older sons, and the Trump Organization, and would not shield anyone from investigations by agencies outside the Internal Revenue Service and Treasury Department. Until those details were nailed down on paper, Cornyn warned Blanche’s nomination could not move forward, describing the situation as unacceptable.

The Settlement, Tax Immunity, and Conservative Concerns

The underlying settlement grew out of President Trump’s lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service over leaks of his private tax records. The deal included two explosive pieces: tax immunity for Trump and his businesses, and the massive Anti-Weaponization Fund to pay supposed victims of “overzealous” prosecutions under prior administrations. A federal judge had already frozen work on the fund, and later refused to block it further after accepting Blanche’s vow that the department would not move forward.

For many conservatives, the stated goal of fighting government “weaponization” reflects real anger at past abuse by left-wing officials and agencies, but they balked at this particular fund’s design. Lawmakers worried that such a large, loosely defined fund could invite corruption, invite endless claims, and blur the line between justice and political payback. Cornyn and Tillis pressed Blanche to protect the rule of law by closing loopholes and making sure no one, not even a Republican president, could turn that settlement into a permanent special shield beyond its narrow tax scope.

What the Deal Means for Blanche’s Nomination and Trump’s Agenda

With the written rescission now in place, Blanche is much closer to winning the committee vote and then full Senate confirmation as attorney general. Reports say he told senators and top Democrats that backing the fund had been a “mistake” and asked what more he could do to fix it. The new order gives clear proof that he listened to Congress, put limits in writing, and chose to put institutional trust and conservative concerns ahead of a controversial payout program.

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche moved closer to Senate confirmation Sunday after formally rescinding a controversial $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization fund” and narrowing tax protections included in President Donald Trump’s IRS settlement. pic.twitter.com/Hu8q7ialpc

— Blanche Victoria (@tammytabby) August 3, 2026

President Trump has defended the idea of compensating Americans who suffered from politicized investigations, and at times he threatened to revive the fund if Blanche’s nomination were blocked. But the strong pushback from his own party shows that many conservative lawmakers want to fight weaponization in a different way: by tightening laws, reining in rogue agencies, and restoring equal justice without creating billion-dollar side pools that can be twisted by future leftist administrations. Blanche’s deal now tries to thread that needle, supporting Trump’s larger agenda while answering serious constitutional and fiscal worries.