Cornyn and Tillis asked for assurances.

The Assurance

August 1, 2026 · Ibid.

A colored-pencil style editorial cartoon shows a courtroom where a caricatured Donald Trump leans across a sheet-covered body on a gurney, pressing defibrillator paddles to it while a speech bubble above him reads "It's dead."; the body's exposed foot bears a toe tag labeled "$1.776BN FUND" and a placard on the sheet reads "BLANCHE". Behind the gurney, a man raises his right hand as if being sworn in, while two older men in suits sit at an elevated wooden bench, one reading papers and one holding a pen, with a U.S. flag at the left and the signature "Ibid." in the lower right corner.

President Trump has renewed his public backing for a $1.776bn "anti-weaponisation fund" to compensate people alleging political persecution under the Biden administration, tying it to the stalled confirmation of Todd Blanche as attorney general. Republican senators John Cornyn and Thom Tillis are blocking Blanche in the Judiciary Committee over the fund, which originated in a settlement of Trump's lawsuit against the IRS that a federal judge ruled illegal.