Todd Blanche, President Trump's choice for attorney general, is one step closer to the job after two Republican senators got him to promise he would drop a nearly $1.8 billion fund, NPR reported on August 3, 2026.

Sens. Thom Tillis of North Carolina and John Cornyn of Texas said they will vote for Blanche, which ended a holdup that had stopped the full Senate from voting on his nomination, The Guardian and CBS News reported.

The attorney general is the country's top law enforcement official and runs the Justice Department. Blanche had created what was called an "anti-weaponization fund" — a pot of about $1.8 billion. As part of the deal to win the two senators' support, Blanche gave them a written promise to get rid of it, according to The Guardian. He then officially canceled the fund in an order issued late Sunday, CBS News reported.

NPR, in a report by Ryan Lucas and Scott Detrow, confirmed the nomination is moving again after the deal. The fund had been the main thing blocking Blanche's confirmation, USA Today reported.

The written promise means the Justice Department, under Blanche, is committed to dropping the fund. By issuing the Sunday order, Blanche turned that promise into an official action before the Senate vote.

The broader context here is that a disagreement over one policy within the president's own party was enough to bring the nomination to a halt. The fix came through a written commitment and a formal order — a negotiated deal between the executive branch and individual senators, not something the president simply gave away.

The key takeaway is the leverage two Republican senators had over a Justice Department spending plan. The $1.8 billion fund never went to a Senate vote or a standalone bill. Instead, it was settled through a direct agreement between Blanche and the senators, with the fund canceled by a departmental order.

The path from stalled nomination to written promise to official cancellation shows a process that skips the full Senate debating the issue. Getting rid of the fund was the price for Tillis and Cornyn's support, and that price was paid through a departmental action, not a new law.