Backlash over Trump’s $1.776 billion fund tests Blanche’s bid for US attorney general

By Andrew Goudsward

WASHINGTON, May 29 (Reuters) – As acting U.S. attorney general, Todd Blanche moved quickly to please the man whose face now adorns the exterior of the Justice Department’s Washington headquarters: President Donald Trump.

Under Blanche, who took over in early April after Trump fired his predecessor, Pam Bondi, the Justice Department filed criminal charges against former FBI Director James Comey, stepped up its investigation of former CIA Director John Brennan, and removed public statements related to investigations into the rioters who attacked the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021.

But his biggest hurdle in his bid for the permanent job as the nation’s top law enforcement official likely faces the creation of a $1.776 billion fund for victims of what Trump calls the “weaponization” of the government, including the Jan. 6 rioters.

Lawmakers, including many in Trump’s Republican Party, have expressed deep skepticism about the proposal, and on Friday a federal judge temporarily blocked the Trump administration from creating or operating it until at least mid-June. The decision was made in one of three lawsuits seeking to vacate the fund.

The “Gun Fund,” established as part of Trump’s settlement of his lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service over the leak of his tax records, has been widely derided by critics as a “slush fund” for Trump’s political allies.

Senators backed away from the fund when it was introduced last week, canceling a planned vote on funding for immigration enforcement in protest. Some Republican lawmakers have discussed putting guardrails on the fund or eliminating it altogether.

‘Yelling at the Deputy Chief Prosecutor’

Blanche is summoned to a tense meeting with Senate Republicans; Many of them expressed anger about the political complexion of the fund and the possibility that people convicted of violent crimes could receive taxpayer-funded payments.

“Republican senators are pissed,” Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz said on his podcast. “They were yelling at the deputy attorney general throughout the entire meeting.”

Trump supported the plan, writing in a social media post that it was helping those “abused” by Democratic President Joe Biden’s administration.

Blanche defended the fund, saying there were no partisan requirements to file a lawsuit. A five-member commission, four of whom Blanche will directly appoint, will oversee compensation for those who claim to be victims of “law enforcement” or “arming,” terms that Trump and his allies have long used to decry lawsuits against them.

The backlash from Senate Republicans, whose support she will need for confirmation, demonstrates the risks of Blanche’s Trump-centered approach. The courts also expressed distrust of the Department of Justice in many cases.

“There is a fundamental incompatibility between (Trump’s) demand that the Justice Department faithfully pursue all of its punitive goals and his desire to see those things succeed in the courts and before grand juries,” said Peter ‌Keisler, a former Justice Department official who served as acting attorney general under Republican President George W. Bush.

A department spokesman said Blanche “has strong, productive relationships with both Congress and the courts as we enforce our nation’s laws.”

“Any suggestion that Acting AG Blanche does not receive support from these institutions is completely false,” the spokesman said.

DEFENDING TRUMP

A day after the confrontation with Republican lawmakers, Blanche was reprimanded by a federal judge.

Tennessee-based U.S. District Judge Waverly Crenshaw dismissed the human trafficking case against Kilmar Abrego Garcia, finding that the prosecution was improperly brought in retaliation for his legal challenge to his wrongful deportation to El Salvador last year.

In his ruling, the judge cited Blanche’s words in a June 2025 interview with Fox News; Blanche, who was deputy attorney general at the time, said the government began investigating Abrego after another federal judge questioned his deportation.

Crenshaw, an appointee of former Democratic President Barack Obama, said Blanche’s statements bind Justice Department leadership “to the flawed investigation and confirm what motivated her.”

The Ministry of Justice vowed to appeal the decision, calling it “wrong and dangerous”. In court filings, prosecutors denied any political motivation.

Blanche rose from assistant attorney to supervisor at the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Manhattan, a magnet for top federal prosecutors. He left his position at a prominent New York law firm in 2023 to represent Trump, who at the time was struggling to find lawyers to defend him against state and federal investigations.

“She’s been living this legal situation for years. She understands the evil of it. She understands its dangers,” said Mike Davis, a Trump ally and president of the Article III Project, a conservative legal advocacy group, who called Blanche “the man for now.”

Blanche developed a rapport with Trump and adopted his pugilistic style while defending against three of the four criminal cases Trump faced in his years out of office. He was appointed second-in-command at the Department of Justice after Trump won the 2024 elections.

Rebecca Roiphe, a professor at New York Law School and an expert in legal ethics, said Blanche’s past role as Trump’s lawyer could put her in a “different mindset” from others who run the Justice Department.

“There’s really only one person you’re looking for, and you start thinking of them and their goals as everything and end up with your entire professional life,” Roiphe said. “Then when you move into a position where you have to represent the public, your perspective may be different.”

(Reporting by Andrew Goudsward; Editing by Michael Learmonth and Sanjeev Miglani)