Congress
House GOP leaders release budget framework for $95B party-line package
House Republicans released a fiscal blueprint Wednesday morning for the $95 billion party-line funding package GOP leaders hope to pass later this summer.
Budget Chair Jodey Arrington (R-Texas) has scheduled a Thursday morning markup of the measure, which would unlock the reconciliation process to skirt the Senate filibuster and enact a bill that delivers $73 billion for the military and intelligence, $12 billion for farm assistance, plus $10 billion more for election grants to states and other efforts aimed at encouraging strict voter-ID laws.
Even clearing the framework through committee — the first step in an arduous legislative process — is not guaranteed. The panel’s fiscal hawks want offsets to reduce the deficit impact of at least some of the new spending. But that’s unlikely to happen, meaning the package won’t be paid for, which is riling fiscal hawks. So, House GOP leaders are expected to spend the day trying to quell the concerns of Republicans on the budget panel while balancing conflicting demands among the broader conference.
The $73 billion for military and intelligence comes in far below President Donald Trump’s demand for $350 billion in Pentagon funding. Lawmakers are directing some of that to the ongoing war in Iran and another portion to servicemember pay, which DOD officials have warned will run short in August.
If Arrington succeeds in advancing the budget resolution, the House and Senate would both need to adopt the measure in order to embark on a third reconciliation bill this Congress, following enactment of the “big, beautiful bill” a year ago and an immigration enforcement funding package last month.
House GOP leaders want to hold a floor vote on the measure next week before lawmakers leave for a six-week recess. Action on the blueprint would then move to the Senate, which is scheduled to be in session into early August.
Republicans in both chambers then would need to clear the funding package itself during the small window of session days scheduled for the leadup to Election Day.
Mia McCarthy contributed to this report.
Acting attorney general Todd Blanche told Sen. John Cornyn of Texas that while the anti-weaponization fund is “dead,” the underlying settlement agreement remains an “enforceable document.”
A critical Republican vote needed for Blanche’s attorney general nomination to advance out of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Cornyn appeared at the Wednesday confirmation hearing accompanied by a poster-sized version of President Donald Trump’s settlement agreement with the IRS.
Cornyn pointed to page four, which states that “this settlement agreement may be modified only upon the written agreement of the parties.”
Blanche replied that there has not been a written agreement to modify the settlement fund while emphasizing that “it’s not moving forward” after sharp backlash from members of both parties, fearful it would be a slush fund to make payments to Trump’s political allies and rioters involved in the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol attacks.
The settlement agreement, however, remains an “enforceable document,” Blanche acknowledged, noting that Trump’s counsel could potentially seek to enforce the contract by a breach of contract lawsuit.
“They can’t force the Department of Justice to move forward with the weaponization fund,” Blanche said. “They could potentially say that, I suppose, that we breached by not moving forward,” but added, “They haven’t done that and I’m not aware that they’re planning on doing that.”
Cornyn has said he needs assurances from Blanche that there is no way the anti-weaponization fund could ever go into effect. It’s not clear whether Blanche’s response will be satisfactory toward that end. A single Republican vote against Blanche in committee could thwart his chances of being confirmed, assuming all Democrats vote “no.”
The $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization fund” originally floated by the Justice Department was born out of a settlement of a $10 billion lawsuit Trump brought against the IRS for leaking his tax information. The other outcome of that settlement was the guarantee of IRS immunity for Trump, his business and family members — also a subject of intense scrutiny from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle.
Blanche noted earlier in the Wednesday confirmation hearing that the IRS audit shield is “not an exemption to comply with the tax laws of the United States,” but “an agreement that any past audits would end.”
Todd Blanche likely fueled the most potent criticism against him Wednesday with a gaffe that may haunt him beyond his ongoing confirmation hearing to become the next attorney general.
Asked by Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) if Blanche and President Donald Trump are friends, Blanche replied, “I’m his lawyer” — before quickly correcting himself to say, “was his lawyer, and now I’m the deputy attorney general.”
The most enduring criticism of Blanche throughout his tenure as deputy attorney general and, more recently, as acting attorney general, has been that he has continued to act as Trump’s personal lawyer — a job he had earlier in his career — in taking steps to shield him from any potential legal harm and carry out his desired investigations and prosecutions.
Since Watergate, the attorney general has been expected to run the Justice Department independent of the White House.
Blanche rose to the highest levels of the Justice Department after working as Trump’s attorney during his Manhattan criminal trial and the two federal prosecutions against him. Since then, Blanche has frequently fended off critiques from lawmakers and others that he has continued to work on Trump’s personal behalf, rather than in service of the Constitution or the country.
The Senate Judiciary Committee’s confirmation hearing for Blanche is still underway.
Attorney general nominee Todd Blanche opened his confirmation hearing by telling members of the Senate Judiciary Committee he is committed to “restoring American trust” in the the Justice Department — after claiming the Biden administration weaponized the law against President Donald Trump and many Republican lawmakers.
“In recent years, we watched the Justice Department turn against many of you and a former president and it damaged the public’s faith in justice,” Blanche, the current deputy attorney general now also leading the DOJ in an acting capacity, said Wednesday morning. “We are fixing that.”
He was likely referencing Biden-era special counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election and mismanagement of classified documents.
Blanche, who was confirmed last year as deputy attorney general, told the Senate he is “here today to earn your trust once more” amid indications that Judiciary Committee Republicans Thom Tillis of North Carolina and John Cornyn of Texas could oppose him.
He also used his opening statement to play up the accomplishments his agency has taken to keep Americans safer, specifically noting actions to more stringently enforce the borders, keep drugs out of the country and crack down on fraud such as in the healthcare space.
Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, went after Blanche for an uneven rollout of the Jeffrey Epstein files and his role in facilitating the controversial legal settlement agreement for Trump that led to the short-lived launch of an “anti-weaponization fund” that members of both parties decried.
“This nation deserves an Attorney General who loves the Constitution more than he loves the President. An Attorney General who is focused on keeping Americans safe and combating corruption — not satisfying the grifter-in-chief’s personal grievances and filling his bank accounts,” Durbin said. “Mr. Blanche, you have proven beyond a reasonable doubt you are not that person.”
Judiciary Chair Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) lauded successful efforts under Blanche at DOJ to crack down on crime and defended him against Democratic attacks that the Justice Department has lacked transparency and accountability.
A staunch oversight advocate, Grassley called the current Justice Department “the most responsive” he has ever worked with during his decadeslong career — noting that DOJ, since January 2025, “produced approximately 43,000 pages of records in response to requests from the Senate and House,” which is “three times” the number of records the Biden DOJ produced over an equivalent timeline.
- Cornyn challenges Blanche on fate of ‘anti-weaponization fund’
- Blanche’s slip-up on his Trump relationship: ‘I’m his lawyer’
- Todd Blanche says he can’t meet directly with Epstein victims
- Katherine Clark, No. 2 House Democrat, backs cutting Israel aid
- Todd Blanche confirmation hearing kicks off
- House GOP leaders release budget framework for $95B party-line package
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