Blanche Gains Key GOP Support
PHOTO CAPTION: Acting U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche walks through the Hart Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., U.S., July 29, 2026. REUTERS/Anna Rose Layden
Aug. 3 — Two Republican senators said Monday that they would support Todd Blanche’s nomination for U.S. attorney general after he rescinded a $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund that critics described as a slush fund for supporters of President Donald Trump.
The support from Senators John Cornyn of Texas and Thom Tillis of North Carolina clears a major obstacle to Blanche’s confirmation.
Cornyn and Tillis had delayed the nomination while seeking written confirmation that the Justice Department would not proceed with the fund.
Blanche, Trump’s former personal lawyer who is serving as acting attorney general, said on social media Sunday that the fund had been rescinded.
“We want to express our gratitude to Mr. Blanche and his staff for working with us on this, and we look forward to voting to advance his nomination out of the Senate Judiciary Committee soon,” Cornyn and Tillis said in a joint statement.
Their support will likely allow the committee to advance Blanche’s nomination Tuesday.
The full Senate could vote as early as Saturday unless Democrats agree to hold an earlier vote.
The agreement appears to resolve one of the most prominent Republican challenges to Trump in Congress.
Tillis plans to retire in January. Cornyn lost the Republican primary after Trump backed other Senate candidates in their respective states.
Disputed fund rescinded
The “anti-weaponization” fund was created through a legal settlement intended to resolve a $10 billion lawsuit Trump filed against the federal government.
Trump alleged that the Internal Revenue Service mishandled his tax records.
Supporters said the fund was designed to compensate people they believed had been unfairly targeted by the federal government.
Critics, including Cornyn and Tillis, said it could send taxpayer money to Trump allies, including people who assaulted police officers during the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.
Senators sought limits on tax protections
Cornyn and Tillis had also objected to a related order preventing the IRS from auditing past tax returns filed before May 18 by Trump, his relatives and his companies.
The senators sought clarification about who was protected and how broadly the order applied, saying they wanted to ensure Trump did not receive permanent blanket immunity from tax audits.
Blanche specified that the order applied only to Trump, his sons and the family business. Their future tax returns could still be investigated.
“The Department has acknowledged in a binding written order that the audit settlement is limited to the plaintiffs and the scope does not extend beyond the defendants in the lawsuit, the IRS and the Treasury,” Cornyn and Tillis said.
They said the clarification addressed concerns shared by several Republican colleagues.
Blanche’s order stated that the tax provision “applied by its terms only retroactively.”
Critics said protection for Trump’s previous tax returns could still save him millions of dollars. They also said changing the settlement would require approval from both sides, including Trump’s personal attorneys.
Trump’s personal attorneys did not sign Blanche’s order and have not publicly commented.
“They don’t pull back on the ongoing attempts to give the President, his family, and his affiliates unauthorized immunity from tax audits,” Brandon DeBot, policy director at the nonpartisan Tax Law Center, said in a statement.
“They don’t do anything new to stop the President from trying to bring back the fund, as he threatened to this weekend.”
Blanche has served as acting attorney general since April, when Trump fired Pam Bondi.
(Source: Reuters)
