President Trump said on Saturday that he would revive a proposal for a $1.8 billion so-called anti-weaponization fund that would compensate his supporters if the Senate does not confirm his nominee for attorney general.<\/p>\n
The administration had backed off plans<\/a> to establish such a fund in June as it was criticized<\/a> as a scheme to reward political allies with taxpayers\u2019 dollars.<\/p>\n But in a social media post, Mr. Trump reacted to skepticism about his nomination of Todd Blanche, his former defense lawyer, to be attorney general, saying that he would keep Mr. Blanche as the acting attorney general if the Senate failed to confirm him, and added that he would \u201cpush hard\u201d to pass legislation creating the fund.<\/p>\n \u201cTodd Blanche was a voice of reason! It will immediately be back on the table, and I will get it done,\u201d Mr. Trump wrote on<\/a> social media.<\/p>\n Senators have delayed an important vote on Mr. Blanche\u2019s nomination, partly because of the anti-weaponization fund proposal, which embodies the president\u2019s claims<\/a> that his supporters, including those who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, have been unfairly prosecuted.<\/p>\n Senators Thom Tillis, Republican of North Carolina, and John Cornyn, Republican of Texas, have stalled<\/a> the nomination of Mr. Blanche from advancing.<\/p>\n The lawmakers \u2014 who are both leaving office at the end of their terms \u2014 are withholding their support until the White House agrees in writing to shelve a tax provision tied to a settlement that Mr. Blanche brokered to resolve Mr. Trump\u2019s $10 billion lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service. Mr. Trump\u2019s suit faulted the I.R.S.<\/a> for a leak of his tax returns in 2019.<\/p>\n Senator Cornyn, who lost his Republican primary to the Trump-backed candidate Ken Paxton earlier this year, had not publicly commented about Mr. Trump\u2019s post. His office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n Responding to Mr. Trump\u2019s comments on Saturday, Senator Tillis, who is retiring, said that the president \u201cclearly intends to resurrect the payout pot for punks either by inappropriately establishing another bogus fund or pushing Congress to vote for a bill that the majority of Republicans in the Senate would be against.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s unfortunate that Todd Blanche, who I consider qualified for the job, will not be confirmed because of this reversal,\u201d Mr. Tillis wrote on<\/a> social media.<\/p>\n The White House did not immediately respond on Saturday to a request for comment elaborating on any plans behind Mr. Trump\u2019s post.<\/p>\n The Justice Department announced the settlement<\/a> in May in the case over the disclosure of Mr. Trump\u2019s tax returns.<\/p>\n The agreement proposed creating the compensation fund for his aggrieved supporters. It also included a tax provision shielding Mr. Trump and his relatives from audits over past tax years.<\/p>\n Mr. Blanche said in June that he would abandon the compensation fund<\/a> but would leave the tax provision in place. That provision has remained one of the chief points of disagreement in his confirmation.<\/p>\n Senator Cornyn has said that he has not received written assurances that the tax provision would not apply to future tax liabilities or be expanded to cover more people.<\/p>\n