Will the Justice Department give Cornyn and Tillis written assurance the $1.776 billion weaponization fund is dead before Aug 4?

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche formally rescinded the Justice Department's roughly $1.8 billion "anti-weaponization fund" on August 3, 2026, after Sens. John Cornyn (R-Texas) and Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) received a written order confirming the fund was dead. Cornyn and Tillis subsequently said they would back Blanche's nomination for attorney general.

The two senators had withheld support for Blanche's confirmation over the fund, which the Senate Judiciary Committee had been scheduled to vote on before the dispute delayed proceedings. Cornyn and Tillis said they wanted the department's commitment in writing, rather than a verbal assurance, before advancing the nomination.

The written order specified that a related audit settlement involving the IRS and Treasury applied only to the plaintiffs named in the underlying lawsuit and did not extend further, addressing a specific scope concern the senators had raised.

The resolution ended a standoff that had stalled Blanche's path to confirmation for several weeks, clearing the way for the Judiciary Committee to move forward with his nomination.

The community was unanimous in predicting the department would not provide this written assurance before August 4 (0% yes), but the Justice Department did deliver it, making this one of the day's clearer community misses and resolving "yes."