Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche pulled the plug on President Donald Trump's $1.8 billion "anti-weaponization" fund on Sunday, a move that clears the biggest hurdle to his confirmation as the top law enforcement official. The decision came after weeks of "good faith discussions" with Republican senators whose opposition had put his nomination in jeopardy ahead of Tuesday's Senate Judiciary Committee vote.

"My team and I have met with committee members and Senators over the past several weeks and addressed any concerns or outstanding questions," Blanche said in a statement.

The fund was always a strange beast. Created in May through a settlement of Trump's $10 billion lawsuit over the disclosure of his tax records, it was designed to compensate people who claimed they were politically prosecuted. The money would have come from the federal Judgment Fund, and the plan authorized compensation, apologies, and other relief. But from the start, it drew bipartisan criticism, especially after Blanche initially wouldn't rule out payments to people convicted in connection with the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack. Vice President JD Vance even floated the idea that Hunter Biden could seek compensation if eligible.

Two Republican senators, John Cornyn of Texas and Thom Tillis of North Carolina, had withheld their support, demanding written proof that the fund was truly dead. Blanche had testified in June that the Justice Department was "not moving forward with the fund, period," but the senators wanted more than words. Their resistance delayed a committee vote on his nomination.

Sunday's order is emphatic: no board members were appointed, no money was transferred, no claims process was created, and no payments were made. "This order establishes, beyond any doubt, that there is no Fund," the department said.

Blanche also narrowed a tax-audit protection in the settlement. The order says it applies only retroactively to matters that were open when the agreement took effect and does not shield Trump or his family from future filings. That clarification follows legal scrutiny: a federal judge concluded in July that Trump's IRS lawsuit lacked genuine adverseness and was filed to secure judicial approval for an agreement with "no viable basis in law or fact."

Trump, for his part, still defended compensation for Jan. 6 defendants on Sunday, saying "their lives [were] destroyed" and payments would reimburse "the pain that they suffered." His continued support had raised fears he might revive the fund, but Blanche's action suggests that's not happening anytime soon.

So what's next? Blanche's order removes the primary obstacle to his confirmation, but he still needs approval from both the Judiciary Committee and the full Senate. The committee vote is set for Tuesday, and with Cornyn and Tillis likely satisfied, the path looks clearer. But in Washington, nothing is certain until the gavel falls.