US Senator John Cornyn of Texas said at the confirmation hearing for acting US attorney general Todd Blanche’s nomination that he is now satisfied by Blanche’s assurances that the $1.8bn “anti-weaponization” fund at issue is now dead.

”I’ve been very clear, as others have, that in other order to support Mr Blanche’s nomination, I needed specific assurances in writing about a release signed by the acting attorney general … that clarifies the scope of the parties to the IRS audit agreement and it permanently ends the [anti-weaponization] fund,” Cornyn said. “While this may sound like nitpicking to some, it’s critically important not only to me but to other members of the Senate. What Mr Blanche said under oath in his nomination hearing on these topics was important.”

Cornyn and other Republicans have been holding up the nomination of Donald Trump’s former criminal defense attorney in order to obtain sufficient assurances that the fund proposed in a settlement to the president’s lawsuit stemming from the agency’s leak of his tax records would not go forward. Critics suggested that the “anti-weaponization” money would be used to reward January 6 rioters for their loyalty to the president.

The Department of Justice issued a written order formally withdrawing the fund late on Sunday after negotiations between the Justice Department and outgoing Republican senators Cornyn and Thom Tillis of Kentucky.

“They’ve been consistent about their assertion on behalf of the United States of America that the weaponization fund is dead,” Cornyn said. “Of course, I expect them to live up to that in any future litigation.”