‘Payout Pot for Punks’: Senator Quickly Reacts to Trump’s Latest Anti-Weaponization Fund Push

Thom Tillis

Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) wasted no time Saturday clapping back at President Donald Trump.

The senator quickly reacted to an early Truth Social post from Trump, in which the president vowed to get his contentious anti-weaponization fund “PASSED” despite admitting a day earlier he realized the fund was “dead.”

Tillis lashed out on X:

Despite comments as late as yesterday that the fund is dead, President Trump 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. Hopefully, we can resolve this by Tuesday.

The $1.8 billion anti-weaponization fund has become a flashpoint in the Senate confirmation of Blanche, who is currently serving as Acting U.S. Attorney General and is seeking to be appointed to the job full-time.

Tillis and Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) are holding up Blanche’s nomination, refusing to vote for him until they get written guarantees the taxpayer-fueled fund is dead.

On Friday, Trump appeared to admit defeat on the issue.

While taking questions at a Cabinet meeting held at Camp David, Trump told reporters who asked about the controversy, “Well, it is dead, but, you know, I wish it weren’t, to be honest with you.”

The trio has battled over the issue for days.

The decision by Tillis, who is retiring from Congress when his term ends, and Cornyn, who lost his bid for re-election after Trump backed his primary opponent, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, marks a rare instance of Republicans bucking the two-term president.

Critics have slammed the anti-weaponization fund as a taxpayer-fueled “slush fund” for Trump’s supporters.

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