{"id":2551,"date":"2026-06-02T21:06:57","date_gmt":"2026-06-02T21:06:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?p=2551"},"modified":"2026-06-02T21:06:57","modified_gmt":"2026-06-02T21:06:57","slug":"blanche-says-trump-administration-is-scrapping-1-8b-fund-meant-to-compensate-presidents-allies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?p=2551","title":{"rendered":"Blanche says Trump administration is scrapping $1.8B fund meant to compensate president\u2019s allies"},"content":{"rendered":"

By ERIC TUCKER and ALANNA DURKIN RICHER<\/strong><\/p>\n

WASHINGTON (AP) \u2014 Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said Tuesday that the Trump administration was scrapping plans to create a\u00a0$1.8 billion fund meant\u00a0to compensate allies of the Republican president after widespread political backlash and setbacks in the courts.<\/p>

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\u201cWe are not moving forward with the fund, period,\u201d Blanche said in response to questions at a House hearing on the Justice Department budget.<\/p>\n

\u201c\u201cNot moving forward, ever?\u201d asked Rep. Grace Meng, a New York Democrat.<\/p>\n

The blunt declaration marked an extraordinary turnabout for a Trump Justice Department that just two weeks ago had pronounced the fund as essential to make up for what officials insist was weaponized law enforcement during President Joe Biden\u2019s Democratic administration. Since then, though, the idea has faced mounting pressure from Republicans who demanded reassurances that plans for the fund were off the table before they would move forward with legislation funding President Donald Trump\u2019s immigration enforcement agencies.<\/p>\n

Blanche said the Justice Department was not abandoning an element of a settlement with the IRS that gave Trump and his family immunity from tax audits.<\/p>\n

The hearing before a House Appropriations subcommittee was scheduled for discussion of the Justice Department\u2019s budget, but lawmakers quickly focused their questioning on the creation of a fund that has provoked outrage over the mere possibility that\u00a0violent pro-Trump rioters\u00a0who stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, could be eligible for payouts.<\/p>\n

Signs for the retreat surfaced Monday when a person familiar with the matter said the Republican president was now reconsidering whether to move forward with the fund established to resolve his lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service over the leak of his tax returns. The Justice Department also said Monday it would comply with a Virginia court temporarily blocking the administration\u2019s \u201cAnti-Weaponization Fund,\u201d effectively agreeing to pause the plan for at least two weeks.<\/p>

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