Blanche tells Senate Judiciary Committee that DOJ “anti-weaponization” fund is “dead” and “moot”

Blanche reiterated during a Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing that the Justice Department’s so-called “anti-weaponization” fund is effectively over, telling lawmakers that the matter is “moot” because “there is no weaponization fund,” and that “the weaponization fund is dead.”

According to remarks described by CBS News Politics, the comment was made in response to questions about whether the Justice Department had established, maintained, or would rely on an “anti-weaponization” or “weaponization” fund framework. Blanche’s position at the hearing was that the concept has ended and should not remain part of the discussion before the committee.

The exchange placed the dispute in procedural terms: confirmation hearings examine nominees’ qualifications and their approach to office, while questions about internal funds or policy mechanisms can become a proxy for broader disagreements about how the department should handle politically sensitive investigations.

Blanche’s statement also frames the issue as one of current administrative status rather than forward-looking intent. By characterizing the fund as “dead,” he indicated that whatever authority, plan, or mechanism lawmakers referenced earlier would not be treated as an operative program during his anticipated service.

The committee’s questions, as described by CBS News Politics, did not turn the hearing into a vote on a particular program at the chamber level. Instead, Blanche’s characterization aimed to clarify whether the “anti-weaponization” fund is still real in practice, or whether it has already been discontinued in a way that makes it irrelevant to the confirmation record.

Because the available coverage focuses on Blanche’s statements at the hearing, this report does not document any specific DOJ memo, funding directive, or legal filing in which a fund was created or terminated. Additional documentation would be needed to verify the timeline of any establishment and the basis for its shutdown, if such materials exist.

The next step for lawmakers, as a practical matter, is to determine whether follow-up questions should be directed toward internal Justice Department records, including any communications about the existence, structure, and status of the fund, and whether those records align with Blanche’s “moot” description.