Blanche is set to return to Capitol Hill as Trump reconsiders plans for his $1.8 billion fund

WASHINGTON (AP) — Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche is set to return to Capitol Hill on Tuesday after the Trump administration signaled it was pausing contentious plans to move forward with a nearly $1.8 billion fund that could compensate allies of President Donald Trump who believe they have been unjustly investigated and prosecuted.

The hearing before the House Appropriations Committee was scheduled for discussion of the Justice Department's budget, but lawmakers will almost certainly focus their questioning on the creation of a fund that has provoked outrage over the mere possibility that violent pro-Trump rioters who stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, could be eligible for payouts.

The Republican president is now reconsidering whether to move forward with the fund established to resolve his lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service over the leak of his tax returns, according to a person familiar with the matter, in the face of Republican backlash and legal setbacks. The person insisted on anonymity to discuss the president’s thinking on Monday. The Justice Department also said Monday it would comply with a Virginia court temporarily blocking the administration's “Anti-Weaponization Fund,” effectively agreeing to pause the plan for at least two weeks.

Another judge in Florida raised the prospect of reopening the IRS lawsuit because of “grievous allegations” of improper dealing made against the administration by settlement critics.

The Trump administration has defended the fund as an appropriate measure to make up for what officials insist was a weaponized Justice Department during President Joe Biden's Democratic administration, a claim the Biden administration strongly denied. Though some Trump supporters, including participants in the Capitol riot, have celebrated the announcement, the reaction among Republicans in Congress has been decidedly more hostile, forcing Blanche to try to assuage a GOP constituency that generally operates in close alignment with the administration.

The furor has especially complicated matters in the Senate, where Republicans defiantly left town 10 days ago without passing legislation to fund Trump’s immigration enforcement agencies. Republicans who returned to Washington on Monday said they won’t have the votes to pass the Homeland Security spending bill until the White House works with them to place parameters on the fund. Many have pushed the administration to impose limits or scrap the idea altogether.

At a Senate budget hearing last month, Blanche refused to rule out the possibility that those who carried out violence on Jan. 6 could be eligible for payouts and has repeatedly said in interviews that anyone who feels persecuted by the criminal justice system is free to apply. Payouts will be decided by a five-member commission appointed by Blanche.

But he has apparently struck a more conciliatory tone in private when confronted by Republican anger.

Blanche encountered a groundswell of opposition last month at a tense private meeting with GOP senators, with more than half raising concerns, including by shouting at the Justice Department's top official, Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas said in a recent episode of his podcast.

“There were fireworks at an epic level — and I've got to say, it's one of the roughest meetings I've seen in my entire time in the Senate," Cruz said.

Behind closed doors, Blanche was “adamant” that no one who assaulted police at the Capitol would receive compensation, according to Cruz.

“He said not just ‘no,’ but ‘hell no,’” the senator recalled.

FILE - Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Dallas, March 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Gabriela Passos, File)

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche testifies during a Senate Committee on Appropriations subcommittee hearing to address the Trump administration's budget request for the Justice Department, Tuesday, May 19, 2026, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib)

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche arrives for a closed-door meeting with Republican senators who are expected to abandon a proposal for $1 billion in security money for the White House complex and President Donald Trump's ballroom after it has failed to win enough party support, at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, May 21, 2026. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche speaks to a reporter outside the White House, Wednesday, May 27, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

FILE - Acting U.S. attorney general Todd Blanche speaks during a news conference at the Justice Department, May 4, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson, File)

TOKYO (AP) — Asian shares mostly declined Tuesday as renewed fighting threatened the U.S.-Iran ceasefire.

U.S. futures also fell.

Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 slipped 1.6% to 65,833.49 and South Korea's Kospi dipped 1.7% to 8,642.82.

The Hang Seng gained 1.2% to 25,698.75, while the Shanghai Composite slipped less than 0.1% to 4,056.56.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 shed 0.4% to 8,692.20.

Monday on Wall Street, U.S. stocks ticked to more records.

The S&P 500 added 0.3% to close at 7,599.96 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.1% to 51,078.88. The Nasdaq composite climbed 0.4% to 27,086.81.

In the bond market, the yield for the 10-year Treasury briefly approached 4.52% before regressing to 4.46%, up from 4.45% late Friday.

U.S. companies with big fuel bills were hurt by rising oil prices. United Airlines lost 2.6%, and Alaska Air Group fell 3.3% after the price for a barrel of Brent crude oil climbed in overnight trading.

In Asian trading early Tuesday, benchmark U.S. crude lost 39 cents to $91.77 a barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, slipped 28 cents to $94.70 a barrel. The levels are still well above the roughly $70 level they were at before the war.

Much hinges on whether the United States and Iran will reach an agreement to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, allowing deliveries of oil to resume from the Persian Gulf and easing the upward pressure on inflation.

Japan, for instance, imports almost all its oil, although the effects on prices of gas and other products have been relatively contained by the release of the nation's reserves so far.

“Crude shortages have already forced refiners across Asia and Europe to aggressively reduce runs,” said analyst Stephen Innes. “The result is that the squeeze is no longer confined to crude inventories. It is spreading into the fuels that actually power economies: gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, LPG, and naphtha.”

On Monday, the United States said it bombed Iranian radar and drone sites after Tehran downed an American drone. Iran said it targeted U.S. soldiers in Kuwait with missiles that the U.S. said it shot down.

However, U.S. President Donald Trump said Israel and Hezbollah agreed to dial back their fighting after he spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and communicated with the Lebanon-militant group through mediators.

On Wall Street, Nvidia was the strongest force lifting the market and rose 6.2% after CEO Jensen Huang announced several product updates at a conference. What Nvidia does matters immensely for the U.S. stock market because it’s the biggest in terms of overall market value.

In currency trading, the U.S. dollar rose to 159.70 Japanese yen from 159.66 yen. The euro was unchanged at $1.1631.

AP Business Writer Stan Choe contributed.

Yuri Kageyama is on Threads: https://www.threads.com/@yurikageyama

Traders Edward McCarthy, left, and Robert Charmak work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Monday, June 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

People walk in front of an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei index at a securities firm Tuesday, June 2, 2026, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

A person looks at an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei index at a securities firm Tuesday, June 2, 2026, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

People stop in front of an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei index at a securities firm Tuesday, June 2, 2026, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

People gather in front of an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei index at a securities firm Tuesday, June 2, 2026, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

People walk in front of an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei index at a securities firm Tuesday, June 2, 2026, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)