Trump appears alongside Emil Bove (Blanche) at White House press briefing podium.Trump Says Weaponization Fund Is Dead, But Defends It Anyway
Intra-Party Split Detected
GOP Sens. Cornyn and Tillis are blocking Trump's AG nominee Todd Blanche over concerns about the 'anti-weaponization fund' settlement, defying Trump and most Republican leadership who want Blanche confirmed immediately.
Left says
- •Trump's contradictory statements — calling the fund dead while praising it and vowing to compensate 'victims' — expose a pattern of saying one thing publicly while undermining it privately, raising questions about whether the administration ever intended to abandon the settlement.
- •The $1.8 billion fund emerged from a legally dubious settlement that a federal judge called 'bad faith,' and using it to potentially benefit Jan. 6 defendants represents a troubling use of taxpayer money to reward political loyalty.
- •Trump's public attacks on Cornyn, tying his opposition to a lost primary that Trump helped engineer, show a pattern of punishing Republicans who exercise independent judgment rather than blind loyalty.
- •The stalled confirmation reflects legitimate institutional checks working as intended, with senators refusing to rubber-stamp a nominee until real accountability is provided in writing.
Right says
- •Trump's core argument is about justice for people he believes were unfairly targeted, prosecuted, or persecuted by prior administrations, and he sees compensating them as a matter of principle, not politics.
- •Todd Blanche is a well-qualified nominee with broad support from law enforcement groups and former DOJ officials, and his confirmation is being held hostage over an unrelated funding dispute that Blanche himself says isn't moving forward.
- •Cornyn and Tillis are lame-duck senators who lost their political standing or chose not to seek reelection, and some see their obstruction as motivated more by personal grievance against Trump than genuine policy concern.
- •Trump's willingness to temporarily withdraw and later resubmit Blanche's nomination shows pragmatic flexibility aimed at getting a qualified attorney general in place despite Senate gridlock.
Common Take
High Consensus- The anti-weaponization fund and its ambiguous status are the direct cause of the delay in Todd Blanche's confirmation.
- Sens. Cornyn and Tillis have demanded written confirmation that the fund is not moving forward before they'll support Blanche.
- Trump's Friday comments — calling the fund dead while defending it — created confusion and reignited tension rather than resolving the standoff.
- A federal judge has criticized the underlying IRS settlement that created the fund, adding legal uncertainty to the political dispute.
The Arguments
Left argues
Trump's simultaneous claim that the fund is 'dead' while saying 'I wish it weren't' and vowing to compensate 'victims' suggests the administration may not have genuinely abandoned the settlement, but is merely trying to clear the political obstacle to Blanche's confirmation.
Right counters
Trump is simply being honest about his personal feelings on an issue of principle while accepting the practical reality that the fund isn't moving forward — expressing regret about a policy outcome isn't the same as secretly reviving it, and Blanche himself has confirmed in testimony that it 'is just not moving forward.'
Right argues
Todd Blanche is a broadly qualified nominee with support from law enforcement groups and former DOJ officials, and holding his confirmation hostage over a settlement dispute that he himself says isn't advancing is an unrelated and unfair obstruction of a functioning DOJ leadership.
Left counters
Verbal assurances aren't good enough when the president himself keeps publicly defending and expressing wistfulness for the fund on the same day — senators are reasonably asking for a written guarantee precisely because Trump's own statements undercut Blanche's assurances.
Right argues
Cornyn and Tillis are lame-duck senators — one having lost his primary, the other retiring — and their sudden hardline stance looks more like a parting shot fueled by personal grievance against Trump than a principled policy objection that reflects the broader GOP conference.
Left counters
Their lame-duck status actually frees them to exercise independent judgment without fear of political retaliation, which is precisely what allows them to hold the line on a legally dubious settlement that a federal judge already condemned as 'bad faith' — that's institutional accountability working as intended, not grievance.
Left argues
The $1.8 billion fund arose from a settlement a federal judge explicitly called 'bad faith,' and using taxpayer money to potentially compensate Jan. 6 defendants represents a troubling reward for political loyalty rather than genuine restitution for wrongdoing.
Right counters
Trump's stated goal is to compensate people he sincerely believes were unjustly targeted by prior administrations — treating that as inherently illegitimate ignores that reversing perceived governmental abuse is a legitimate policy aim, regardless of who ultimately benefits.
Right argues
Trump's floated willingness to temporarily withdraw Blanche's nomination and resubmit it after Cornyn and Tillis leave office in January shows pragmatic flexibility aimed at getting a qualified attorney general confirmed despite Senate gridlock, not an attempt to punish dissent.
Left counters
Explicitly waiting out two senators until they're out of office — after Trump helped end one of their careers — reads less like pragmatism and more like a strategy to bypass legitimate oversight by running out the clock on independent-minded Republicans.
Challenge Questions
These questions target genuine internal contradictions — meant to provoke honest reflection.
Right asks Left
“If Blanche and the administration have both stated on the record that the fund is 'not moving forward,' what specific additional assurance would satisfy critics, and would any written guarantee actually change the outcome given that a sitting president's policy views can shift regardless of paperwork?”
Left asks Right
“If the settlement was reached through a lawsuit a federal judge called 'bad faith' and designed in a way that could benefit Jan. 6 defendants, how does insisting on compensating 'victims' of that same legal process differ from directly rewarding political allies with taxpayer funds?”
Outlier Report
Left Fringe
Progressive commentators like those at MSNBC or figures such as Rachel Maddow who frame this as evidence of systemic corruption and impunity represent maybe 15-20% of the left, pushing for more aggressive investigations or impeachment-style rhetoric beyond what most Democrats emphasize.
Right Fringe
Figures like Steve Bannon or some Jan. 6-defense-aligned commentators who argue the fund should be fully funded as overdue justice represent a vocal but small fringe, perhaps 10-15% of the right, as many mainstream Republicans (including Cornyn and Tillis) are wary of the fund's optics.
Noise Assessment
High noise ratio — this is largely an inside-Washington Senate procedural fight amplified by political media, and most ordinary Americans are only faintly aware of the specific $1.8 billion fund or Blanche's confirmation stall, making elite/media framing disproportionately loud relative to actual public engagement.
Sources (9)
<p>The <a href="https://www.axios.com/politics-policy/donald-trump" target="_blank">Trump</a> administration is still pushing lawmakers to confirm acting Attorney General <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/07/15/todd-blanche-federal-agents-polling-places-voters-ice" target="_blank">Todd Blanche</a>, even as President <a href="https://www.axios.com/politics-policy/donald-trump" target="_blank">Trump</a> defends the "anti-weaponization" fund holding Blanche's confirmation hostage.</p><p><strong>The big picture:</strong> The <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/07/13/judge-trump-irs-settlement-anti-weaponization-fund" target="_blank">"anti-weaponization" fund</a> has been the red line for Sens. John Cornyn (R-Texas) and Thom Tillis (R-N.C.). The lawmakers have refused to vote for Blanche until the DOJ put into writing that aspects of the deal <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/06/01/trump-weaponization-fund-drop" target="_blank">aren't moving forward</a>.</p><hr /><ul><li>Trump <a href="https://x.com/atrupar/status/2083225390777024963" target="_blank">said</a> Friday the fund is dead, but he didn't seem happy about it.</li><li>"I wish it weren't [dead]," Trump said of the fund. He added that he wanted to see people who "were horribly treated, horribly abused" by the government be compensated. </li></ul><p><strong>Friction point: </strong>Tillis seemed to take issue with Trump defending the fund on Truth Social, retweeting a screenshot of the president's words on Friday and <a href="https://x.com/SenThomTillis/status/2083210673819881724" target="_blank">writing</a> that Trump had "made it clear" that the fund "is still alive."</p><ul><li>"I will continue working in good faith to put an end [to] this legal and political albatross and prevent any potential misallocation of taxpayer dollars," Tillis wrote, adding that Blanche had been forthright in discussions.</li></ul><p><strong>Earlier Friday, </strong>the president went <a href="https://truthsocial.com/%40realDonaldTrump/posts/117014253232654593" target="_blank">after</a> Cornyn, and said he would "always feel that these victims of government abuse should be paid back for what they were forced to endure."</p><ul><li>Cornyn also re-shared a <a href="https://x.com/StevenJDuffield/status/2083196822328090746" target="_blank">post</a> Friday that said it "does not sound like citizen Trump has agreed to end the Fund."</li></ul><p><strong>Catch up quick: </strong>The president on Thursday floated withdrawing Blanche's name and keeping him on in an acting capacity until Cornyn and Tillis leave the Senate this January.</p><ul><li>But on Friday, Trump said Blanche should be "immediately approved," a call seconded by <a href="https://x.com/SecRollins/status/2083265983930826875" target="_blank">members</a> of his administration. </li><li>Secretary of State Marco Rubio <a href="https://x.com/SecRubio/status/2083257792656199742" target="_blank">wrote</a> in a Friday post that the Senate shouldn't go on recess until Blanche is confirmed.</li><li>The White House also <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/releases/2026/07/icymi-confirm-todd-blanche-as-attorney-general/" target="_blank">released</a> a demand to confirm Blanche "without delay" on its website Friday with a list of endorsements from law enforcement groups, former DOJ officials and members of Congress, among others.</li></ul><p><strong>What we're watching: </strong>While the battle over Blanche plays out in Washington, attorneys for the president <a href="https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.flsd.706172/gov.uscourts.flsd.706172.113.0_2.pdf" target="_blank">said</a> Friday that they'd appeal a Miami-based federal judge's order that blasted the extraordinary deal to drop the IRS suit against his own government.</p><ul><li>U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams <a href="https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.flsd.706172/gov.uscourts.flsd.706172.106.0.pdf" target="_blank">wrote</a> in her scathing order earlier this month that the lawsuit had been a "bad faith" means to an end and blocked the parties from referring to the settlement in any official proceedings — but Trump is still fighting.</li></ul><p><strong>Go deeper: </strong><a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/07/30/todd-blanche-nomination-issues-trump" target="_blank">The major controversies stalling Todd Blanche's attorney general nomination</a></p>
<p>President <a href="https://www.axios.com/politics-policy/donald-trump" target="_blank">Trump</a> said Thursday that he would have "no objection" to temporarily withdrawing acting Attorney General <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/07/15/todd-blanche-federal-agents-polling-places-voters-ice" target="_blank">Todd Blanche's</a> nomination until his Republican opponents are out of office next January.</p><p><strong>The big picture: </strong>Trump's threat, directed at GOP Sens. <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/07/16/tillis-withholds-blanche-support-esptein" target="_blank">Thom Tillis</a> (N.C.) and <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/05/27/texas-primary-paxton-cornyn-takeaways" target="_blank">John Cornyn</a> (Texas), puts Blanche's critics on notice as to what the president deemed "the right thing" after their concerns stalled the acting attorney general's nomination.</p><hr /><ul><li>Cornyn <a href="https://www.axios.com/local/austin/2026/05/27/texas-senate-gop-cornyn-paxton" target="_blank">lost his primary </a>earlier this year to a Trump-backed challenger, and current Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. Tillis chose <a href="https://www.axios.com/2025/06/29/thom-tillis-retire-senate-north-carolina" target="_blank">not to seek re-election</a>. </li></ul><p><strong>Driving the news: "</strong>Todd Blanche is a STAR," Trump wrote of his former personal attorney turned Justice Department loyalist.</p><ul><li>He added that Blanche would "remain, in any event, as Acting."</li><li>Cornyn had demanded a written guarantee that the administration's controversial $1.8 billion "<a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/05/20/trump-anti-weaponization-fund-judgment-fund-explainer" target="_blank">anti-weaponization fund</a>" was dead. The fund was born out of a scrutinized settlement agreement between Trump and the IRS.</li></ul><p><strong>State of play: </strong>A "no" vote from Tillis or Cornyn, who both sit on the Senate Judiciary Committee, would prevent Blanche's nomination from advancing to a confirmation vote before the full Senate.</p><ul><li>On Wednesday night, the committee postponed a crucial vote on Blanche's nomination over the Republicans' steadfast opposition.</li></ul><p><strong>Reality check: </strong>Even if the president withdraws Blanche's name for confirmation, he would retain the vast power of the nation's chief law enforcement officer in an acting capacity, as he has since this spring.</p><p><strong>What they're saying: </strong>"POTUS is mistaken if he believes concerns about the provisions in his tax lawsuit settlement are limited to me and Senator Tillis," Cornyn wrote in a <a href="https://x.com/JohnCornyn/status/2082851774143021356?s=20" target="_blank">post</a> on X.</p><ul><li>During Blanche's confirmation hearing before a Senate panel earlier this month, Cornyn <a href="https://www.youtube.com/shorts/ulu8US4zgQ8" target="_blank">questioned</a> whether there had been a written agreement to modify the IRS settlement fund, which Blanche said was "just not moving forward."</li><li>Cornyn does have a point — GOP concerns over the head-turning settlement, which has <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/07/13/judge-trump-irs-settlement-anti-weaponization-fund" target="_blank">been lambasted</a> by a federal judge, have already derailed the party's <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/05/21/trump-weaponization-fund-senate-ice-funding" target="_blank">legislative goals</a>.</li><li>Bashed as a political slush fund that could benefit those convicted in the <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/05/20/jan-6-officers-sue-trump-weaponization-fund" target="_self">Jan. 6</a> Capitol riot, the administration dropped the fund after a federal judge blocked the <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/05/29/trump-anti-weaponization-fund-blocked" target="_blank">money's disbursement</a>. </li></ul><p><strong>Go deeper:</strong> <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/07/30/todd-blanche-nomination-issues-trump" target="_blank">The major controversies stalling Todd Blanche's attorney general nomination</a></p><p><em>Editor's note: This story has been updated throughout with additional information.</em></p>
The president’s comments threw the confirmation of Todd Blanche, his pick to be attorney general, further into doubt.
Plus: Russia launches deadly attacks across Ukraine, U.S. economic growth slows, and no robot dogs on flights.
<p>Sens. John Cornyn and Thom Tillis, who leave office in January, want assurances over an IRS settlement regarding Trump.</p> The post <a href="https://legalinsurrection.com/2026/07/trump-might-temporarily-pull-blanches-ag-nomination-until-cornyn-tillis-leave/">Trump Might Temporarily Pull Blanche’s AG Nomination Until Cornyn, Tillis Leave</a> first appeared on <a href="https://legalinsurrection.com">Le·gal In·sur·rec·tion</a>.
<p>The Department of Health and Human Services keeps saying it's <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/06/13/kennedy-vaccine-policy" target="_blank">turning over a new leaf</a>, but it has only been partially successful — and <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/01/09/rfk-trump-vaccines-political-risk" target="_blank">controversial vaccine policymaking</a> appears to be back on the table.</p><p><strong>Why it matters: </strong>Though the <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/02/27/trump-maha-kennedy-vaccine-agenda" target="_blank">agency reset</a> was launched with the midterm elections in mind, it's already under strain and the elections are still more than three months away.</p><hr /><p><strong>State of play: </strong>Until this week, the administration had spent most of this year toning down its approach to vaccines, after it became clear through polling that vaccine skepticism was a political liability for the GOP in the midterm elections.</p><ul><li>But it wasn't just vaccines. The Food and Drug Administration had become dysfunctional enough that critics were warning of irreparable harms to the biotech industry and lost cures for patients, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has been without a Senate-confirmed director for the vast majority of Trump's second term.</li></ul><p><strong>At the same time,</strong> HHS elevated people with much more traditional backgrounds to senior positions within the department, most notably installing Chris Klomp effectively as chief of staff.</p><ul><li>Former FDA commissioner Marty Makary and top regulator Vinay Prasad both left their jobs in the following months, signaling what the biopharma industry hoped would be a reset on a relationship that had become poisonous.</li><li>Other controversial personnel either left the administration or — in the case of surgeon general nominee Casey Means — failed to be confirmed.</li></ul><p><strong>Where it stands: </strong>The projection of a return to business as usual experienced some serious cracks this week.</p><ul><li>The Senate confirmation of Sean Kaufman, the administration's nominee to lead the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response, seemed to be in trouble over his past <a href="https://www.statnews.com/2026/07/10/sean-kaufman-hhs-nominee-past-statements-question-vaccine-safety/" target="_blank">anti-vaccine statements</a>, though the Senate health committee did <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/07/30/senate-panel-approves-cdc-nominee-schwartz-kaufman" target="_blank">approve his nomination</a> Thursday.</li></ul><p><strong>And most prominently, </strong>the <a href="https://www.wsj.com/politics/policy/trump-rfk-jr-cut-vaccine-children-78582411?st=tie359&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink" target="_blank">WSJ reported</a> that President Trump has been pressuring Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to do more on vaccines, including probing the alleged connection between vaccines and autism and reducing the number of shots children receive.</p><ul><li>"💯 true," a source close to HHS and the White House texted Axios in response to the story.</li><li>That's a stark departure from White House staff urging the department to tone it down — but a testament to the president's genuine commitment to the topic.</li><li>Scientists have repeatedly said there's no evidence of a connection between vaccines and autism.</li></ul><p><strong>The other side: </strong>The administration's nominee to lead the CDC, Erica Schwartz, was approved by the Senate health committee with significantly less drama Thursday, even earning a Democrat's vote.</p><ul><li>And while the FDA is lacking permanent leadership, both the acting commissioner and the acting heads of drug regulation have received widespread praise from industry and other critics of the agency under Makary's tenure.</li><li>Klomp, who has been nominated as deputy secretary, continues to be largely regarded as competent and a steadying hand.</li><li>HHS said in a statement: "We have an exceptional team in place across the Department, that is dedicated to serving the American people and carrying out President Trump's bold vision to reverse the chronic disease epidemic, restore trust in public health, and put prevention at the center of health policy as we Make America Healthy Again."</li></ul><p><strong>Between the lines:</strong> The likelihood that controversial vaccine policy returns with a vengeance post-midterms is completely underappreciated across Washington.</p><ul><li>Sources close to the administration are confident that vaccine-skeptical rhetoric and policy actions will resume in a few months.</li><li>"I have full expectation that many of MAHA's goals will reappear after midterms. They'll actually get finalized in the second half of the administration, and the real question is what happens in the next administration?" said David Mansdoerfer, a senior HHS official during Trump's first term.</li></ul><p><strong>What they're saying: </strong>Parents' "questions and concerns about America's skyrocketing autism rates have long been ignored if not mocked. That changed the day President Trump took office, and the Trump administration is committed to leaving no stone unturned to finally address these concerns with Gold Standard Science," White House spokesman Kush Desai said in a statement.</p><p><strong>The intrigue: </strong>Trump's urgency could add longevity to Kennedy's tenure. There's been rampant speculation about whether the secretary will leave the administration after the midterm elections, with many sources believing he'll be gone after they're over.</p><ul><li>"Of course this means that the Secretary will stay to the end of the Administration," the source close to HHS and the White House told me.</li><li>"He's been stymied time and again by staff who were worried about the political optics of questioning vaccines. Now he can tell them the President ordered him to do more, and when they try to block him on whatever is next he can march into the Oval."</li></ul><p><strong>Reality check: </strong>A lot of what Kennedy's critics feared HHS would do on vaccines under his leadership either never happened or was <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/03/16/rfk-kennedy-cdc-vaccine-changes-judge" target="_blank">blocked by the courts</a>.</p><ul><li>But that doesn't preclude those things from happening in the future, particularly during the second half of the Trump administration.</li></ul><p><strong>"I knew all</strong> along that Trump had these feelings on vaccines. I don't think I fully appreciated how much he was pushing," said Richard Hughes, the attorney leading the legal fight against the HHS vaccine schedule changes.</p><ul><li>"It's concerning that the president may continue to try to break the law and interfere with what should be evidence-based vaccine policy based on his deeply held, deeply flawed views of science," he added.</li></ul><p><strong>Yes, but: </strong>Efforts to push vaccine policy or rhetoric won't receive carte-blanche approval within the administration, even without the political considerations of the midterms.</p><ul><li>"There is a strong desire to ensure any research is done to the highest standards, is validated, etc.," one senior administration official said.</li></ul><p><strong>The bottom line: </strong>"Administrations typically get more brazen in the second half of the second term when it comes to policy ideas," Mansdoerfer said.</p><ul><li>"I think you have a president who has a firm belief in many of these same lines of thinking as Secretary Kennedy does, who will say, 'This is my legacy, I am going to do this because I think it is the right thing.'"</li></ul>
President Donald Trump said Friday he would like to see people he said were politically targeted by the Obama and Biden administrations receive compensation, but the anti-weaponization fund created through the settlement of his $10 billion lawsuit...
President Donald Trump defended his controversial proposal for a $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization fund” for Jan. 6 defendants, complicating Todd Blanche’s nomination.
A new website will track the flow of foreign money and its influence on American politics, according to The Center Square.