President Trump said on Saturday that he would revive a proposal for a $1.8 billion so-called anti-weaponization fund that would compensate his supporters if the Senate does not confirm his nominee for attorney general.
The administration had backed off plans to establish such a fund in June as it was criticized as a scheme to reward political allies with taxpayers’ dollars.
But in a social media post, Mr. Trump reacted to skepticism about his nomination of Todd Blanche, his former defense lawyer, to be attorney general, saying that he would keep Mr. Blanche as the acting attorney general if the Senate failed to confirm him, and added that he would “push hard” to pass legislation creating the fund.
“Todd Blanche was a voice of reason! It will immediately be back on the table, and I will get it done,” Mr. Trump wrote on social media.
Senators have delayed an important vote on Mr. Blanche’s nomination, partly because of the anti-weaponization fund proposal, which embodies the president’s claims that his supporters, including those who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, have been unfairly prosecuted.
Senators Thom Tillis, Republican of North Carolina, and John Cornyn, Republican of Texas, have stalled the nomination of Mr. Blanche from advancing.
The lawmakers — who are both leaving office at the end of their terms — are withholding their support until the White House agrees in writing to shelve a tax provision tied to a settlement that Mr. Blanche brokered to resolve Mr. Trump’s $10 billion lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service. Mr. Trump’s suit faulted the I.R.S. for a leak of his tax returns in 2019.
Senator Cornyn, who lost his Republican primary to the Trump-backed candidate Ken Paxton earlier this year, had not publicly commented about Mr. Trump’s post. His office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Responding to Mr. Trump’s comments on Saturday, Senator Tillis, who is retiring, said that the president “clearly intends to resurrect the payout pot for punks either by inappropriately establishing another bogus fund or pushing Congress to vote for a bill that the majority of Republicans in the Senate would be against.”
“It’s unfortunate that Todd Blanche, who I consider qualified for the job, will not be confirmed because of this reversal,” Mr. Tillis wrote on social media.
The White House did not immediately respond on Saturday to a request for comment elaborating on any plans behind Mr. Trump’s post.
The Justice Department announced the settlement in May in the case over the disclosure of Mr. Trump’s tax returns.
The agreement proposed creating the compensation fund for his aggrieved supporters. It also included a tax provision shielding Mr. Trump and his relatives from audits over past tax years.
Mr. Blanche said in June that he would abandon the compensation fund but would leave the tax provision in place. That provision has remained one of the chief points of disagreement in his confirmation.
Senator Cornyn has said that he has not received written assurances that the tax provision would not apply to future tax liabilities or be expanded to cover more people.
On Wednesday, Senator Charles E. Grassley, the Iowa Republican who leads the committee considering Mr. Blanche’s nomination, postponed a vote to allow negotiations to continue and to try to secure enough support for the confirmation.
His office had not issued comment on the latest development.
