Overview
- Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche posted an order on X on Sunday that formally vacated the Justice Department directive of May 18, 2026 and declared the proposed fund void.
- The fund grew from a settlement tied to President Trump’s January lawsuit against the IRS and would have used about $1.8 billion to pay people who said they were victims of politically motivated prosecutions.
- The settlement included unusual concessions reported to limit after-the-fact IRS reviews of Trump-related tax filings, a detail that helped drive scrutiny of the deal’s legal basis and oversight.
- Senators John Cornyn and Thom Tillis conditioned their support for Blanche’s permanent nomination on a written withdrawal and pressed the administration during weeks of talks before the order.
- The Justice Department had already put the plan on hold after congressional pushback and the immediate next step is a Senate Judiciary Committee vote expected Tuesday that will test whether the rescission secures enough backing and whether oversight or legal challenges persist.