Overview
- Late Sunday, Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche issued a signed order that he said rescinds the May 18 directive creating the nearly $1.8 billion compensation fund and declares that the fund has no force or effect.
- The Justice Department’s documents state the fund never became operational because no board members were appointed, no funds were transferred, no claims process was set up, and no payments were made.
- Blanche’s order also narrowed the settlement’s tax-audit protection by saying it applies only retroactively to claims open when the settlement was signed and does not bar future IRS examinations.
- Senators John Cornyn and Thom Tillis had withheld support for Blanche’s nomination until they received written assurances, and Cornyn’s office confirmed a deal that paved the way for a Senate Judiciary Committee vote scheduled for Tuesday.
- Significant legal and political questions remain because federal judges have sharply criticized the original settlement, Trump’s lawyers are appealing, and the settlement’s text may require all signatories to agree before it can be changed, leaving the rescission’s binding effect unclear.