Blanche Rescinds $1.8B Fund, Clearing Path for AG Vote

The Senate Judiciary Committee is set to vote Tuesday on confirming Todd Blanche as attorney general after the acting AG issued a formal order Sunday night ending a $1.8 billion program created through a May 2026 IRS settlement. The move satisfied written demands from two Republican senators who had blocked the nomination.

Senators John Cornyn of Texas and Thom Tillis of North Carolina, both retiring at the end of their terms, had delayed an earlier committee vote. They required documented proof that the fund would not proceed, despite Blanche’s prior testimony under oath and statements to courts that no payments would occur. The Justice Department order states that no members were appointed, no funds transferred, no claims process created, and no payments made.

The fund originated in the settlement of a lawsuit Trump and his sons filed against the IRS after leaks of his tax returns. A second order issued with the rescission limits related tax-audit protections to the named plaintiffs and applies them only retroactively. A Cornyn spokeswoman confirmed the agreement meets the senators’ conditions. Tillis has not yet commented publicly.

President Trump had continued to defend the fund publicly during negotiations, describing it as compensation for individuals whose lives were affected by prior prosecutions. Blanche’s order followed weeks of discussions with committee members and explicitly rescinds the May 18 directive establishing the program.