U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened to again push for the creation of a controversial fund worth nearly $1.8 billion if the Senate does not confirm his nominee, Todd Blanche, as U.S. attorney general.

Trump said he would keep Blanche in the position of acting head of the Justice Department and renew efforts to secure approval of the so-called “fund against the political use of state institutions” if Republican senators Thom Tillis and John Cornyn continue to block a vote on the nomination.

Previously, both senators had refused to support Blanche, demanding written guarantees that the fund would no longer be created. The program in question was announced in May as part of a settlement in Trump’s lawsuit against the U.S. Internal Revenue Service and the Treasury Department. Critics described the initiative as a political fund to pay compensation to people who claim they were victims of political persecution.

On Saturday, Trump initially said the fund project was “off the table,” but later threatened to bring it back if Blanche’s nomination is not confirmed.

“Todd Blanche is the voice of reason. The fund will immediately be back on the table, and I will get it approved,” the president wrote on his social media platform Truth Social.

Tillis responded to the president’s statement by accusing him of intending to once again advance a program opposed by many Republican senators.

At the same time, he noted that he considers Blanche a qualified candidate and hopes to resolve the situation before the next vote.

Blanche himself had previously said at a Senate hearing that the fund was “dead” and would not be implemented. According to him, no transfers of budget funds had been made, CBS News reported.

The vote on Blanche’s nomination in the Senate Judiciary Committee is scheduled for Tuesday. Republican leadership is seeking to secure his confirmation before the start of Congress’s August recess.

Opponents of Trump’s initiative, including Democrats and several Republicans, called the fund a “political slush fund” and said the administration has no authority to direct government money to payments not approved by Congress.