Todd Blanche is on track to clear a key confirmation hurdle after securing the support of two previously undecided Republican senators by revising agreements tied to a controversial anti-weaponization fund and a tax-audit immunity deal, according to statements from those senators and others involved in the dispute.
Blanche - the former personal lawyer to the president and the current acting attorney general - announced changes intended to end the $1.8 billion fund created under a settlement of the president's $10 billion lawsuit against the IRS and to limit an agreement that had shielded the president and certain related parties from audits of past tax returns.
Under the amendments Blanche said he issued, the fund would be ended and the tax immunity arrangement would be narrowed to apply only to past tax filings for the president, his son and their family business. The agreement, as revised, would still permit tax audits of future returns.
Senate process and immediate outlook
Senators John Cornyn and Thom Tillis said they were satisfied with the amended terms and would vote to advance Blanche's nomination out of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Committee approval, which committee members expect, would make way for a full Senate confirmation vote later this week.
The Judiciary Committee had delayed a confirmation vote last week after Cornyn and Tillis demanded written assurances that the fund was truly defunct and that the tax immunity deal would be scaled back. The two senators framed their demands as reflecting views held by fellow Republican colleagues and were among the most visible internal party objections to the president's agenda in his second term.
Critics say changes are insufficient
Critics responded sharply to Blanche's actions, calling the deal a "farce" and arguing the revisions fall short of permanently preventing the fund from being revived. Detractors also said the amendments fail to resolve core ethics concerns about an administration arrangement that shields the president from tax scrutiny.
Democratic Senator Adam Schiff, who serves on the Judiciary Committee, urged committee members not to accept the agreement as sufficient. "The Judiciary Committee and its members should not settle for less than the Acting Attorney General following through on his promise of helping to write this into statute," Schiff said in a statement.
Some critics have called for Republicans to pursue legislation that would explicitly bar the fund from being revived and that would end the tax protections granted under the original agreement.
Legal and factual contours of the dispute
The contested fund and the tax immunity arrangement trace back to a settlement resolving a $10 billion lawsuit filed by the president against the IRS. The fund was designed to support individuals who claim they were unfairly prosecuted for political activity and could be used to compensate allies who have said they were targeted in connection with the January 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
Advocates and opponents have sharply disagreed on the fund's nature. Critics have labelled it a Republican slush fund. Observers also noted that the president's personal lawyers did not sign Blanche's order to end the fund, even though the original settlement required approval from all parties to modify terms. The president's lawyers have not issued a public comment on the move.
The Justice Department and Blanche have declined in litigation to state that the program could never be revived, and the president has publicly expressed enthusiasm for the idea of payouts tied to the fund.
Advocacy group presses for permanent cancellation
Democracy Forward, an advocacy organization that is suing over the fund, sent a letter asking the Justice Department on Monday to declare the program permanently canceled. Skye Perryman, president of Democracy Forward, criticized the department's assurances and framed them as insufficient. "They ask members of the United States Senate to believe the Anti-Weaponization Fund is dead while they seek to preserve favor with the president through refusing to make real commitments backed up in court regarding the operation and future of the fund," Perryman said.
Broader actions under Blanche's leadership
Observers have pointed to actions taken by Blanche since assuming the acting attorney general role. The Justice Department under his leadership has pursued prosecutions against individuals the administration regards as political opponents and has altered several long-standing department practices related to independence.
Blanche also oversaw the release of files connected to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and has highlighted declining crime statistics during his tenure.
With the two holdout senators now publicly backing Blanche's advancement in committee, his nomination looks likely to proceed to a Senate floor vote later in the week. Nonetheless, the central controversies over the permanence of the fund's termination and the scope of tax-audit protections remain unresolved in court or statute, leaving ongoing legal and political questions for lawmakers, litigants and market observers.