DOJ Slush Fund VANISHES Overnight

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche has now put in writing what conservatives demanded for weeks: the controversial $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization fund” is officially dead and wiped off the books.

Story Snapshot

Blanche issued a formal order canceling the $1.8 billion anti-weaponization fund and rescinding the May 18 directive that created it.
The Justice Department says no money ever moved, no board was seated, and no claims were paid out of the fund.
Two Republican senators had blocked Blanche’s attorney general nomination until they got written proof the fund was gone.
The same order also narrows a tax audit immunity deal so it cannot shield President Trump’s future returns from review.

Blanche’s Order Formally Kills the Anti-Weaponization Fund

Late Sunday in Washington, Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche signed an order that cancels the Justice Department’s “Anti-Weaponization Fund,” a nearly $1.8 billion pool that grew out of a settlement of President Trump’s lawsuit over the leak of his tax returns. The order explicitly rescinds the May 18, 2026 directive that set up the fund and says it “shall have no force or effect,” removing any legal doubt about whether the program still exists. In a statement, the department stressed that this written step “officially” matches what Blanche has already told Congress and the courts for weeks—that the fund is not moving forward.

The Justice Department’s release goes further and tries to calm fears about what may have happened while the fund sat under a cloud of court orders and political backlash. It states that since the settlement was announced, no members were appointed to oversee the fund, no taxpayer dollars were transferred into it, no rules for filing claims were set up, and no payments were made. Blanche and department officials had previously told lawmakers that “no money went from the Treasury to any other account,” but this is the first time that assurance appears in an official rescission document. For conservatives worried about secret payouts or backdoor deals, this language aims to shut that door firmly.

Republican Pressure and Court Scrutiny Forced Written Action

This written order did not appear in a vacuum; it comes after weeks of pressure from Republicans and sharp questions from the courts about why the fund was still “alive” on paper. Blanche told a House appropriations subcommittee back on June 2 that “we’re not moving forward with the fund, period,” calling the issue moot and the fund “dead.” But a federal judge handling one of the lawsuits over the fund warned that verbal promises and litigation statements are not a “legally valid rescission” and kept a block in place while demanding clearer action from the department. Conservative and moderate Republicans in the Senate picked up that concern, insisting that if the fund was truly finished, Justice needed to say so in writing.

Senators John Cornyn and Thom Tillis, both Republicans, stalled Blanche’s confirmation as Attorney General and asked for a signed order that could not be quietly reversed later. They were concerned that the settlement language, filed in court when the fund was first created, still technically allowed it to proceed even while Blanche was calling it “dead” in hearings. According to reporting on those negotiations, the Department of Justice shared draft language with the senators stating that the May 18 order establishing the fund “is rescinded and shall have no force or effect,” but those early drafts were not accepted until Blanche formally issued the signed order on Sunday night. Only after that move did the path clear for his nomination to advance.

What the Rescission Means for Trump’s IRS Settlement and Future Oversight

The anti-weaponization fund began as part of a broader settlement between President Trump and the Internal Revenue Service over the leak of his private tax information, and critics on the left attacked it as a “slush fund” for Trump allies. Supporters said it would help anyone who believed the government had used investigations as a political weapon, regardless of party. Now that Blanche’s order has erased the fund, one part of that settlement—the section that gave Trump and his family wide immunity from certain tax audits—has also been narrowed. The new document clarifies that any audit protections apply only to past, already-open matters at the time of the settlement and do not cover future tax returns. That means the Internal Revenue Service retains authority to examine President Trump’s filings going forward, in line with standard law.

⚖️ This is what Republicans say they want from the Justice Department

Jim Jordan's message is straightforward. He says Todd Blanche is the kind of Justice Department leader Congress can work with because of a shared focus on what Republicans call ending the weaponization of… https://t.co/FVRw6WsSeF

— Narrative Decoded (@narrative_dc) August 3, 2026

For constitutional conservatives, this outcome is a mixed but important development. On one hand, a huge special fund tied to one political figure has been shut down and scrubbed from Justice Department policy, which helps restore equal treatment of taxpayers and limits special deals. On the other hand, the saga shows how quickly a single settlement can grow into a multibillion-dollar program that alarms judges and lawmakers before it is ever used. Blanche’s order offers a reminder that when the executive branch says a controversial program is “dead,” Congress and the courts are right to demand written proof, clear limits, and firm protection for the Constitution and the rule of law.