Trump’s AG Pick Caves on $1.8 Billion IRS Fund to Save His Own Nomination

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche formally rescinded his plan to create a $1.776 billion “anti-weaponization fund” as part of a deal to revive his stalled nomination to be permanent attorney general, the Washington Post reported Sunday [1]. The fund, tied to a settlement over the leak of Trump’s tax returns, had also included provisions shielding Trump, his family, and his businesses from IRS audits [3].

Sens. John Cornyn of Texas and Thom Tillis of North Carolina, both retiring at the end of their terms, had refused to advance Blanche’s nomination out of the Judiciary Committee without written confirmation that the fund would not move forward, prompting Trump to threaten pulling the nomination until the two senators leave office in January [4]. Tillis wrote on X Sunday that it was “unfortunate” Blanche “will not be confirmed because of this reversal,” adding he hoped the matter would be “resolved by Tuesday” [2].

Why It Sucks:

The Trump Administration

• A legitimate protection just got traded away. Officials had defended the fund as compensation for a genuine leak of the president’s private tax information, and see rescinding it as capitulating to two senators on their way out the door [3].
• Two retiring senators just rewrote DOJ policy. The administration’s view is that Cornyn and Tillis, who won’t face voters again, used their leverage on a confirmation vote to kill a deal with no accountability to come [4].
• Blanche’s authority takes a hit before he’s even confirmed. Having to publicly reverse course to save his own nomination undercuts the independence he’d need to lead the department [1].

Sens. Cornyn and Tillis

• No president should buy his way out of audits. The senators framed the fund’s audit-immunity provisions for Trump, his family, and his businesses as an unprecedented carve-out no prior president attempted to extract from the executive branch’s own settlement process [3, 4].
• Holding the line worked. Blanche’s formal rescission is, to Cornyn and Tillis, vindication that a Senate confirmation vote remains real leverage even against a sitting president’s own pick [1].
• They took the political hit anyway. Trump’s threat to sideline Blanche’s nomination until they leave office shows the senators paid a price for their position regardless of the outcome [4].

Congressional Democrats and Watchdogs

• Rescinding the fund doesn’t undo the settlement. Democrats note the broader $1.776 billion IRS settlement, and whatever audit-related terms remain in it, is still in place even with the specific fund withdrawn [3].
• This was self-dealing that only got caught by intra-party politics. Watchdogs argue the arrangement never should have been proposed, and it only unraveled because of a GOP internal dispute, not any independent oversight [1, 4].
• The whole episode shows how personalized DOJ leadership has become. To critics, an attorney general nominee cutting a side deal over his own boss’s tax audits is itself the story, regardless of how the fund fight resolves [2].

Sources & Citations:

[1] Washington Post: Blanche formally rescinds plan for ‘weaponization’ fund, in deal to advance AG nomination
[2] Axios: Tillis says Blanche won’t be confirmed as AG amid Trump fund fight
[3] Foreign Policy Journal: GOP Senators Cornyn And Tillis Block Todd Blanche Attorney General Nomination Over IRS Settlement Dispute
[4] Time: Trump Says He Has ‘No Objection’ to Withdrawing Todd Blanche’s Nomination