Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said Tuesday that the U.S. Department of Justice will not move forward with a $1.776 billion [1] anti-weaponization fund.
The decision marks a significant shift in the handling of a fund created to settle a lawsuit filed by Donald Trump against the Internal Revenue Service. While the financial payout is cancelled, the legal protections shielding the former president and his family from IRS audits remain in effect.
Blanche said this during a congressional hearing in Washington, D.C., on June 2, 2026 [1], [2]. The fund, which some reports rounded to $1.8 billion [2], was intended to address claims of government weaponization. Blanche said the DOJ decided to scrap the fund entirely.
Despite the cancellation of the monetary settlement, the protective order against IRS audits stays in place. This order prevents the agency from auditing Donald Trump and his family members. This specific detail has become a point of contention among government officials.
While Blanche confirmed the order remains active, other officials have been less clear. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent refused to say whether the exemption for Donald Trump is still valid [3]. The discrepancy between the DOJ's testimony and the Treasury's silence highlights a lack of coordination regarding the legal status of the president's tax immunity.
The DOJ's move to eliminate the fund avoids a massive expenditure of public money. However, the continued existence of the audit shield ensures that the president's financial records remain protected from standard federal scrutiny.
“The $1.776 billion anti-weaponization fund will not move forward.”
The decision to cancel the fund removes a massive potential liability from the federal budget, but the retention of the IRS audit shield maintains a legal precedent of executive immunity. By decoupling the financial settlement from the protective order, the administration avoids a public outcry over a billion-dollar payout while keeping the specific legal advantage of tax immunity intact.
