Blanche Rescinds $1.8B DOJ Fund, Clearing Path for Attorney General Confirmation

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche's nomination to permanently lead the Department of Justice was held up in late July 2026 after Republican Senators John Cornyn of Texas and Thom Tillis of North Carolina said they would oppose his confirmation. The senators objected to a proposed $1.8 billion DOJ fund, described by multiple outlets as an "anti-weaponization fund," intended to compensate people who believed they had been wrongfully prosecuted, including some Trump allies. President Trump initially defended the fund publicly on Truth Social while urging the Senate to approve Blanche, and reports indicated Trump considered withdrawing the nomination until 2027 if the standoff continued. On or around August 3, 2026, Blanche issued a formal order rescinding the fund, a move reported as a direct response to pressure from Cornyn and Tillis ahead of his confirmation hearing. Following the rescission, Senate Republicans reached a deal with the holdout senators and advanced Blanche's nomination out of committee on August 4, 2026. The fund had been a DOJ initiative tied to compensating individuals allegedly harmed by prior prosecutions, and its cancellation removed the primary obstacle cited by the two senators. With the fund rescinded and the procedural agreement in place, Blanche's nomination proceeded toward further Senate action, though the exact timeline for a full Senate floor vote was not specified in available reporting. It remains unresolved how Trump's earlier public defense of the fund was reconciled with Blanche's decision to rescind it, and specific details of the deal reached between GOP leadership and Cornyn and Tillis were not fully disclosed.