President Trump’s acting Attorney General Todd Blanche repeatedly refused to answer written questions posed by U.S. Senator Thom Tillis (R-NC) regarding the development of the Department of Justice’s $1.776 Billion “anti-weaponization” fund. Along with other inquiries, Tillis asked who was involved and who determined the amount of the fund.
As seen below, Congress reporter for Courthouse News, Benjamin Weiss, posted pages of the letter, which include Blanche’s repeated response: “It would be inappropriate for me to comment on internal deliberations that may or may not have occurred in conjunction with any official act by the Department of Justice.”
In written responses to @SenThomTillis, TODD BLANCHE repeatedly refuses to answer questions about whether DOJ needed to justify its $1.8B weaponization fund to Treasury or how it derived the cash for the fund.
Blanche says it would be “inappropriate” to discuss internal talks. pic.twitter.com/XsePruErHw
— Benjamin S. Weiss (@BenjaminSWeiss) July 20, 2026
Political scientist Norman Ornstein, an emeritus scholar at the conservative think tank American Enterprise Institute in Washington, D.C., replied: “Blanche is daring @SenThomTillis to vote against him. It is a real test of Tillis’s spine and moral character. He knows full well how utterly unqualified and dangerous Blanche is. If he provides the vote to confirm this monster, that will be the act that defines his public service.”
It was good to meet with Acting Attorney General Blanche to discuss his nomination to serve as the next Attorney General. I appreciated the opportunity to hear his vision for the Department of Justice and discuss the important work that lies ahead. pic.twitter.com/xctAQIIvbR
— Senator Thom Tillis (@SenThomTillis) June 25, 2026
[NOTE: In May, Tillis called the DOJ fund “a payout pot for punks.” He said: “It makes no sense. So it’s politically tone deaf. Whoever did it should be fired. Let’s figure out a way to help people who are victims of warfare, not people who are convicted by a jury of their peers or pled guilty to assaulting a police officer. Please.”]
On Tuesday, Tillis said he wanted reassurance from the DOJ that the fund is dead. Blanche’s nomination for Attorney General appears to be in the hands of Tillis and his Republican colleague Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), the two potential swing votes by lawmakers who aren’t running for reelection.
After Blanche’s confirmation hearing last week, Cornyn told reporters he wasn’t convinced by Blanche’s assurances and said: “I think what I confirmed is that the weaponization fund is still—it can be revived. And so this idea that it’s somehow gone is just not true in my opinion.”