Utah Sen. John Curtis suggested acting Attorney General Todd Blanche could have a hard time being officially confirmed to the position if the Trump administration doesn’t follow through with eliminating the Justice Department’s $1.78 billion anti-weaponization fund.
The Senate shot down a proposal to prohibit federal funds from being used for the so-called “anti-weaponization fund,” which would allow individuals to be compensated if they feel they have been unfairly targeted by the federal government — particularly President Donald Trump’s allies.
Curtis joined just 14 other senators to vote in favor of the amendment, which failed due to overwhelming opposition from Republicans and Democrats.
But Curtis says the fight to dismantle the fund is not over.
“It’s … not our only chance to kill the fund,” Curtis told reporters on Thursday. “We have lots of must-pass legislation. We have now the nomination of Todd Blanche that we can hold up if we feel like he’s not keeping up with his promise.”
Trump announced on Wednesday night he would nominate Blanche to run the Department of Justice after Attorney General Pam Bondi was ousted from the position in April. Blanche has been serving as the interim leader of the department since.
But Blanche already faces an uphill battle to be confirmed to the position, particularly as he faces opposition from the Senate Judiciary Committee, which would need to approve his nomination for a full vote.
Blanche told lawmakers earlier this week the anti-weaponization fund is “off the table,” reversing course just two weeks after it was first announced. But Senate Republicans have raised questions about whether the fund will be permanently dismantled, or if it’s simply on hold until after they pass the party’s $70 billion immigration funding bill.
Blanche declined to put the commitment in writing, and Trump injected new confusion after telling reporters on Wednesday he wasn’t sure if the funding pause was temporary.
“The weaponization fund, as far as I’m concerned, was a beautiful thing,” he said. “I love it. I think it’s so important.”
But Curtis left the door open to all sorts of back-up plans to deal with the fund, even going so far as to suggest Republicans could hold up must-pass legislation or use their votes as leverage in the future.
“I’m just saying there are other opportunities to deal with the fund,” he said.