President Trump is weighing a move that would leave Todd Blanche’s nomination stalled over Slush rather than force a concession on a disputed $1.8 billion fund. He said Blanche could be brought back after Senators John Cornyn and Thom Tillis are gone.
That is the leverage point in the fight: Cornyn and Tillis are demanding assurances that the fund for Trump allies who believe they were wrongfully prosecuted would be eliminated. In the PBS discussion, David Brooks cut to the political logic with, “All hail the king.”
Todd Blanche and the $1.8 billion fund
Blanche’s confirmation to be attorney general was already stalled when Trump floated the idea of withdrawing the nomination. Jonathan Capehart described the disputed payout as “the $1.776 billion anti-weaponization fund,” putting a sharper label on the same proposal and making clear how large the fight has become.
The fund itself is the core bargaining chip. It would compensate Trump allies who believe they were wrongfully prosecuted, while Senate Republicans are using their leverage to demand that it be eliminated before Blanche moves forward. That leaves the nomination tied to a separate dispute over who would get paid and whether the money would exist at all.
John Cornyn and Thom Tillis
Cornyn and Tillis are not objecting in the abstract; they are pressing for a specific assurance that the $1.8 billion fund will not survive the deal. Trump’s answer is to threaten the nomination instead of accepting that demand. The result is a standoff that turns a Justice Department post into a test of whether Senate Republicans can extract a change on the fund.
The practical effect is simple for the White House and the Senate alike: Blanche’s path stays blocked as long as the fund remains part of the negotiation. Trump appears willing to sacrifice his attorney general nomination rather than make concessions on the settlement fund, and that leaves the immediate question centered on whether the fund will be eliminated or preserved.
PBS and the broader fight
The issue surfaced during a PBS discussion with Geoff Bennett, Brooks, and Capehart, where the stalled nomination and the anti-weaponization fund were debated alongside broader party turmoil. The Democratic National Committee was also moving forward with a plan to put South Carolina first in the party’s 2028 presidential primary calendar, followed by Nevada and Ne.
For now, the story moves in one direction: Blanche remains caught in the dispute, Cornyn and Tillis keep pressing their demand, and Trump is signaling that he would rather reopen the nomination later than give up the fund now. That leaves the $1.8 billion fight as the obstacle standing between the nomination and the vote.
