The Late-Night Order That Unlocked the Senate
WASHINGTON (Azat TV) — In a decisive move to salvage his nomination, Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche issued a formal executive order late Sunday terminating President Donald Trump’s highly controversial $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization fund.” According to reports from NPR, CNN, and NBC News, the written directive officially dismantles a program designed to compensate the president’s political allies, resolving a high-stakes standoff with two key Republican senators who had blocked Blanche’s path to becoming the permanent Attorney General.
The formal rescission comes just 48 hours before the Senate Judiciary Committee is scheduled to vote on Blanche’s nomination. For weeks, Senators John Cornyn of Texas and Thom Tillis of North Carolina had withheld their support, demanding a legally binding, written commitment that the fund would be permanently scrapped. While Blanche had previously testified under oath that the department would not move forward with the payouts, the holdout senators refused to rely on verbal assurances, particularly as President Trump continued to publicly advocate for the fund’s activation.
Anatomy of the $1.8 Billion Settlement
The “anti-weaponization fund” was established as part of a highly unusual legal settlement between President Trump and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), resolving a lawsuit Trump had filed against the tax agency. Under the terms of that May 18, 2026 settlement, the federal government allocated $1.8 billion to a pool intended to reimburse individuals who claimed they were targets of politically motivated investigations by federal agencies.
However, the fund immediately drew intense bipartisan condemnation when it became clear that the criteria for payouts could potentially cover individuals convicted of violent crimes during the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. Lawmakers from both parties, including Republican Senator John Kennedy of Louisiana, expressed outrage over the prospect of taxpayer money being used to compensate rioters who assaulted law enforcement officers. Kennedy recently emphasized that he would seek to explicitly exclude January 6 participants from any legislative efforts related to government accountability funds.
In the written order issued Sunday night, the Justice Department sought to put an end to the administrative life of the program. “Although the Acting Attorney General has repeatedly advised Congress through testimony… that the Fund is not moving forward, today’s Order officially rescinds the May 18, 2026 Order,” the document states. The department emphasized that since the settlement was announced, “no Members were appointed; no funds were transferred; no process for receiving claims was established; [and] no claims were paid.” The order concludes by stating that the directive “establishes, beyond any doubt, that there is no Fund.”
Restricting Trump’s Tax Audit Immunity
Beyond terminating the $1.8 billion fund, Blanche’s Sunday night order addressed another highly contentious aspect of the IRS settlement: a provision that granted broad immunity to Donald Trump and members of his immediate family from future federal tax audits. Critics and legal scholars had warned that such a provision represented an unprecedented and potentially illegal shield for a sitting president.
Under the newly negotiated terms, the Justice Department clarified that the audit immunity agreement “applies only retroactively” to tax claims that were already open at the time the settlement was finalized. Crucially, the order establishes that the agreement does not protect the president or his family from IRS examinations of any future tax filings. This concession directly addresses demands made by Senator Cornyn, who insisted that the Justice Department explicitly limit the scope of the audit shield to the specific historical claims involved in the original IRS lawsuit.
This regulatory rollback follows a scathing ruling from a federal judge last month, who characterized the IRS settlement as an improper exercise in self-dealing by the executive branch. The judge criticized Blanche’s personal involvement in drafting the settlement, citing his previous role as Trump’s private defense attorney, and even referred one of Trump’s lawyers for potential disciplinary action. While the Justice Department previously resisted the judge’s demands for signed declarations under penalty of perjury, Blanche’s formal order represents a major administrative capitulation designed to defuse the escalating judicial and legislative crisis.
The Political Standoff and Trump’s Counter-Threats
The resolution of this administrative battle highlights the deep fractures within the Republican party as Trump’s second term progresses. The two senators blocking Blanche’s confirmation—Cornyn and Tillis—possess unique political leverage. Cornyn recently lost his Republican primary to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a staunch Trump ally who received the president’s active endorsement. Tillis, a frequent critic of the administration, announced last year that he would not seek reelection and will retire when his term expires in January.
Freed from the immediate pressures of reelection campaigns, both senators used their seats on the Judiciary Committee to demand institutional guardrails. According to Cornyn, the Justice Department was willing to compromise early on, but negotiations were repeatedly stalled by the White House. “I think as far as Blanche and the Department of Justice, we were pretty much on the same page,” Cornyn remarked. “But then when the president got wind of it, he wasn’t willing to go along with it.”
Trump himself repeatedly intervened in the dispute. Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, Trump threatened to temporarily withdraw Blanche’s nomination and resubmit it next year after Cornyn and Tillis leave the Senate. He went on to accuse the two lawmakers of being “upset because I wouldn’t endorse them” and warned that if the Senate failed to approve Blanche, he would put the $1.8 billion fund back on the table. On Sunday evening, Trump continued to defend the fund on social media, arguing that January 6 defendants had “their lives destroyed” and that the fund was a necessary “reimbursement for the pain that they suffered.”
Blanche’s Path Forward
Todd Blanche’s rise within the Justice Department has been rapid and highly controversial. Having served as Trump’s primary defense lawyer in multiple criminal cases, Blanche joined the DOJ last year as Deputy Attorney General. He was elevated to the top acting post in April following the abrupt firing of Pam Bondi, whom Trump dismissed out of frustration over her failure to launch rapid prosecutions against his political opponents.
While Blanche has maintained that he is focused on executing the department’s administrative duties rather than auditioning for a permanent appointment, he has aggressively advanced the administration’s legal priorities. By formally rescinding the anti-weaponization fund, Blanche has successfully removed the primary obstacle to his confirmation, setting the stage for a critical vote in the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday. However, the compromise has exposed the limits of executive authority when confronted by determined legislative oversight, leaving unresolved questions about how the administration will navigate future legal battles without its promised $1.8 billion political war chest.