Acting U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanch testifies at a hearing of the House Appropriations Committee Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies subcommittee on oversight of the Justice Department on Capitol Hill on June 2, 2026 in Washington, DC.
Brandon Smialowski | AFP | getty images
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche testified before a House panel on Tuesday that the Justice Department will eliminate a planned $1.8 billion anti-gunnery compensation fund that was created by President Donald Trump to settle a lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service.
But Trump, his family members and related business entities are protected from tax audits and enforcement actions regarding tax returns filed before the out-of-court settlement of his lawsuit last month, Blanch said.
Blanch, who previously served as Trump’s criminal defense attorney, personally signed it DOJ’s May 19 addendum A day after the agreement was announced, which gave Trump and his family protection.
Blanch spoke with Rep. Grace Meng, D-N.Y., ranking member of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science. “We are not moving forward with the funds, period,” he told .
Blanch repeatedly told Meng that the DOJ would not administer the fund, regardless of the outcome of multiple lawsuits challenging its legality.
The fund was designed to compensate people who were alleged victims of prosecutorial overreach by the DOJ under the Biden administration.
Critics of the fund, including Republican senators, opposed it because of the lack of legislative oversight over the fund, and raised concerns that it would pay people convicted of assaulting police officers during the January 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol by a mob of Trump supporters.
The acting attorney general’s statement comes a day after the DOJ said it would “comply” with a federal judge’s ruling that temporarily blocked the fund from operating or distributing money to claimants.
That statement left critics of the fund, including Republican senators, worried that the DOJ would reopen it if the block was lifted.
Senator Bill Cassidy, R-La., who was speaking during Blanch’s testimony at the CNBC CEO Council Summit, said, “I do not believe that armament funding will not proceed.”
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