'We Are Not Moving Forward With the Fund, Period'

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche didn't hedge on Tuesday: He confirmed the Trump administration's $1.8 billion "Anti-Weaponization Fund" is finished. "We are not moving forward with the fund, period," Blanche told a House Appropriations Committee panel. "Not moving forward with the fund ever?" asked Democratic Rep. Grace Meng. "Correct," Blanche replied. The administration said the Department of Justice fund was designed to pay people who say they were unfairly investigated, but it triggered a revolt among Republicans worried it could benefit violent Capitol rioters, the Washington Post reports.

• Democrats confronted Blanche about the fund during Tuesday's hearing, the AP reports. Rep. Rosa DeLauro blasted it as a "corrupt payout scheme for the president and his allies." "This administration has engaged in what are perhaps the most brazen acts of flagrant corruption I've ever seen," she said. "And you are at the center of many of them, Mr. Blanche."

The move clears the way for Republicans to resume work on a key immigration enforcement funding bill that had been stalled as some Republican senators demanded an ironclad guarantee the fund was dead. It also marks a rare instance of congressional Republicans successfully bucking President Trump. Before Tuesday's hearing, GOP Sen. Thom Tillis said he planned to introduce an amendment to ensure the fund was never reintroduced, the Post reports. "I just feel like we just need to do a Wayback Machine and just pretend like this never existed, and take whatever steps are necessary to make sure it can never exist or disburse," he said.

The fund, created as part of a settlement that led Trump to drop a $10 billion lawsuit over the leak of his tax records, was already facing multiple legal challenges and a temporary court freeze. Blanche said Monday that the DOJ would abide by the ruling blocking the fund. But one element of the settlement appears likely to stand: An agreement shielding Trump, his family, and his companies from IRS investigations related to his past tax filings. "Nothing has changed with that," Blanche told lawmakers, per the New York Times.