Senate Republicans Derail Trump’s $1.8 Billion Anti-Weaponization Fund Vote

President Trump’s administration created a nearly $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund as part of a settlement resolving Trump’s lawsuit against the IRS over leaked tax returns, and Senate Republicans abruptly derailed plans to vote on legislation tied to Trump’s immigration crackdown and the $1.8-billion fund.

The dispute sharpened after the Justice Department pushed to create what it termed the “anti-weaponization fund,” with Senate Majority Leader John Thune acknowledging concerns after a reportedly contentious private meeting between Senate Republicans and acting Atty. Gen. Todd Blanche.

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Thune said, “It’s hard to divorce anything that happens here from what’s happening in the political atmosphere around us,” while Sen. Bill Cassidy argued on X that “People are concerned about paying their mortgage or rent” rather than a $1.8 billion settlement controlled by appointees without congressional oversight.

Trump, speaking in the Oval Office, said, “We are making a gift to the United States,” and warned that if Congress does not sign off on security funding for a White House ballroom project, the “White House won’t be a very secure place.”

As the fund’s structure drew backlash, a roster of Trump allies and Jan. 6 figures reportedly began lining up to seek payouts, including former Proud Boys chairman Enrique Tarrio, who told Reuters he planned to apply and estimated he could seek between $2 million and $5 million.

Tarrio said, “I'm not greedy,” but added, “But my life was all f---ked up because of this,” while a lawyer for more than 400 Jan. 6 defendants, Peter Ticktin, said he expects to file hundreds of claims once the Justice Department opens the application process.

Advocate

Two police officers who defended the Capitol on Jan. 6, Harry Dunn and Daniel Hodges, sued to block the fund, arguing it is a “slush fund” to “finance the insurrectionists and paramilitary groups that commit violence” in the president’s name.

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche told lawmakers he would not commit to barring payouts to people who assaulted police on Jan. 6, and the WBUR report said the administration is defending the fund as compensation for people who say the government unfairly investigated or prosecuted them.

Democratic lawmakers and legal experts framed the fund as a political mechanism with limited oversight, with USA TODAY’s opinion noting it would be administered by a five-person panel appointed by acting Attorney General Todd Blanche and that the arrangement has “no congressional oversight.”

“A growing roster of convicted political operatives, January 6 rioters, and disgraced Trump allies are reportedly preparing to seek taxpayer-funded payouts from President Donald Trump’s controversial new $1”

Advocate

The New York Times reported that Mr. Blanche said the fund “is unusual, but it is not unprecedented,” while Democrats called it a “slush fund” for Trump allies, and the dispute centered on who could benefit from the settlement.

The fund is set to stop processing claims on Dec. 1, 2028, and PBS reported that it will be administered by five commissioners, with Blanche saying, “It's not limited to the Biden weaponization.”

The lawsuit by Dunn and Hodges described the fund as “illegal” and said “no law authorizes its creation,” while Le Monde reported Trump defended it by saying, “People have been destroyed, have been imprisoned, their families ruined, there have been suicides.”