President Donald Trump is refusing to budge on a $1.8 billion IRS settlement that shields him and his associates from tax audits, even as the dispute derails the confirmation of his attorney general nominee Todd Blanche.
Republican Senators John Cornyn of Texas and Thom Tillis of North Carolina have withheld their support for Blanche over a deal the Justice Department brokered with the IRS earlier this year. The settlement resolved a lawsuit Trump filed after an agency contractor illegally leaked his tax returns, but it also included a proposed $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund and broad immunity from future IRS enforcement actions.
Cornyn and Tillis are demanding written, legally binding assurances that the anti-weaponization fund will be permanently killed and that the scope of audit immunity will be narrowed significantly. Blanche testified under oath during his confirmation hearing that the fund was already “dead,” yet the White House has declined to put any such commitment in writing.
Trump told reporters at Camp David on Friday that administration officials had “agreed not to have a fund” compensating his political allies, yet made clear he personally disagrees with that decision and defended the broader settlement. His comments suggested the fund remains very much alive in the administration’s view, further alarming the holdout senators.
The standoff has pushed Blanche’s confirmation into a holding pattern. Trump floated the possibility of temporarily withdrawing the nomination entirely or keeping Blanche in acting status until after the November midterms, when Cornyn and Tillis will leave the Senate. The maneuver would allow Trump to sidestep the confirmation fight altogether.
Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Chuck Grassley postponed a scheduled vote on Blanche’s nomination after the Justice Department failed to submit written proposals to modify the settlement. A Grassley spokesperson said the chairman wants to set his nominees up for success in committee, not failure.
The controversy highlights tensions between the White House and Senate Republicans over the limits of executive power. While Trump views the settlement as a just resolution for what he considers government overreach, skeptics in his own party see the immunity provisions and the anti-weaponization fund as an unprecedented use of the Justice Department to protect a sitting president from legal accountability.
Trump-affiliated companies including Kalshi and Polymarket have begun distancing themselves from the settlement provisions. Sources: The Week, New York Times, Forbes
Author: USA Desk
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