The January 6 fund is officially dead on paper after Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche released a new Justice Department order rescinding the controversial $1.776 billion program tied to Donald Trump’s settlement with the Internal Revenue Service.
Blanche signed the order late Sunday after Republican Senators John Cornyn of Texas and Thom Tillis of North Carolina refused to advance his nomination without written proof that the money would not be distributed. Blanche had previously testified that the fund was dead, but the two lawmakers wanted something stronger than promises made during a hearing.
The new order says the May 18 directive establishing the Anti Weaponization Fund “is rescinded and shall have no force or effect.” The document also confirms that no members were appointed to oversee the fund, no money was transferred, no process for submitting claims was created and no claims were paid.
“This order establishes, beyond any doubt, that there is no Fund,” the order states, according to the Associated Press.
That language matters because the January 6 fund had become a political problem that Blanche could not talk his way around. Trump continued publicly supporting compensation for people prosecuted in connection with January 6, even as Blanche insisted the Justice Department would not move forward with the program. Cornyn and Tillis wanted the department’s position locked into an official document before they helped Blanche secure the permanent attorney general job.
Blanche addressed the negotiations in a statement posted on X.
“My team and I have met with committee members and Senators over the past several weeks and addressed any concerns or outstanding questions. We have enjoyed good faith discussions, and as a result issue the following order and update with regards to the May IRS settlement,” Blanche said. “The Department always welcomes and appreciates productive engagement with all members of Congress.”
My team and I have met with committee members and Senators over the past several weeks and addressed any concerns or outstanding questions. We have enjoyed good faith discussions, and as a result issue the following order and update with regard to the May IRS settlement. The… pic.twitter.com/U6hs15kw2D
— Acting AG Todd Blanche (@DAGToddBlanche) August 3, 2026
The senators quickly signaled that Blanche had delivered what they requested.
“From the outset, we were clear that we needed a written document addressing our concerns on the IRS audit agreement and the anti-weaponization fund that included constraining the scope of audit protection by limiting it to the parties of the Settlement Agreement and legally ending the anti-weaponization fund,” Cornyn and Tillis said in a joint statement.
“We are pleased that the Department of Justice has issued a formal order terminating the anti-weaponization fund. Additionally, the Department has acknowledged in a binding written order that the audit settlement is limited to the plaintiffs and the scope does not extend beyond the defendants in the lawsuit, the IRS and the Treasury, addressing concerns that multiple of our Republican colleagues share.”
The senators added, “We look forward to voting to advance his nomination out of the Senate Judiciary Committee soon.”
Ending the January 6 fund was not Blanche’s only decision. The Justice Department also clarified the scope of unusually broad tax protections included in a separate May order connected to the settlement.
The earlier language prevented the IRS from pursuing certain examinations involving Trump, his relatives, affiliated individuals and connected companies over matters that existed before the settlement. Blanche’s new statement says those protections apply only retroactively. They do not prevent the IRS from reviewing future tax returns.
Blanche also said the protections were limited to the plaintiffs named in the lawsuit and the two government defendants, the IRS and Treasury Department. That clarification narrowed language that appeared capable of reaching a much wider circle of individuals and companies connected to Trump.
The original January 6 fund grew out of a May settlement involving Trump, Donald Trump Jr., Eric Trump, the Trump Organization, the IRS and the Treasury Department.
According to the official settlement agreement, Trump and the other plaintiffs sued after former IRS contractor Charles Littlejohn illegally obtained and disclosed their tax information. The plaintiffs agreed to dismiss the lawsuit and withdraw two pending administrative claims. In return, they received a formal apology and an agreement requiring the attorney general to create a process for people claiming they had suffered from government “lawfare” or “weaponization.”
The plaintiffs were not supposed to receive money directly. Instead, the Justice Department announced that $1.776 billion from the federal Judgment Fund would be placed into the Anti Weaponization Fund for other potential claimants.
According to the Justice Department’s original announcement, the money could have funded formal apologies and financial relief. The proposed program would have been controlled by five members appointed by the attorney general, including one person selected in consultation with congressional leadership. The group would have issued confidential quarterly reports describing who received relief.
The settlement documents gave the panel broad authority to create its own procedures, accept evidence and approve or reject claims. Reviewers could consider alleged financial damages, attorney fees, time spent in federal custody and whether a claimant had already received another form of relief. The fund was scheduled to stop processing claims by December 1, 2028.
The plan never specifically stated that January 6 defendants would automatically receive money. However, the possibility became central to the backlash because Blanche initially would not rule out payments involving people convicted after the Capitol attack.
In written responses to the Senate Judiciary Committee, Blanche said anyone who assaulted law enforcement or destroyed property at the Capitol should face prosecution. He repeatedly maintained that no commissioners had been appointed, no money had moved and no claims had been accepted or paid.
There is still one important catch. Blanche rescinded the order that implemented the January 6 fund, but he did not rewrite the underlying settlement language requiring the attorney general to create it. The settlement says its terms can only be changed through a written agreement among the parties. Blanche signed the rescission order, but Trump, his sons and the Trump Organization did not.
That does not mean the money is moving. Blanche’s order clearly shuts down the current program. It does mean the legal paperwork underneath the political victory may not be as clean as the Justice Department wants it to appear.
For now, Blanche gave Republican holdouts exactly what they demanded. The $1.8 billion program has been rescinded, the tax audit protections have been narrowed and his nomination is positioned to move forward. The January 6 fund may be dead, but the questions surrounding how it was created are not going anywhere.
