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Fund dropped after revolt
The Trump administration abandoned plans for a $1.8 billion “Anti-Weaponization Fund” after a revolt by Republican lawmakers, with acting attorney general Todd Blanche telling lawmakers on Tuesday, "We're not moving forward with the fund, period."
Blanche’s move came after the Justice Department said it would abide by a federal judge’s order temporarily halting the fund, and the BBC reported that Brinkema barred DOJ from taking steps to stand up or operate it until a preliminary hearing on 12 June.
The fund was announced to settle a lawsuit by President Donald Trump against the Internal Revenue Service over the leak of his tax returns, and the BBC said the plan drew criticism over the possibility of payments to people prosecuted over the US Capitol riot on 6 January 2021.
The BBC also reported that Blanche told Congress he preferred the White House shut down the proposed fund if Congress was to pass a $72bn budget reconciliation package to fund immigration agencies, while the NBC News account tied the fund to the stalled effort to restart that reconciliation bill for ICE and the Border Patrol through the end of Trump’s term.
Blanche under pressure
In the same congressional exchange, Blanche faced questions about whether he would provide a formal written commitment, and the BBC reported that he said, "I'm not committing to putting anything in writing."
The BBC said the Justice Department defended the fund on Monday by arguing it was created "to make up for the tremendous abuse, harm, and hate unfairly shown to so many people" and that it was open to anyone who was “weaponized, targeted, or persecuted.”
Republican leaders pressed for a clearer end to the scheme, with NBC News quoting Senate Judiciary Committee chair Chuck Grassley saying, "The only thing that’s going to solve this problem, to get immigration funded and law enforced, is for the president to do away with the weaponization fund,".
Democrats, meanwhile, framed the fund as a “slush fund” and said they would force votes to shut it down, with NBC News citing Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer on X: "This week, Senate Democrats will push legislation to ban this slush fund and ensure no president can ever do this again."
What happens next
Even as the administration backed off, the legal and political fight over the fund’s legitimacy continued, with the BBC describing that Brinkema had barred DOJ from processing or dispersing claims until a preliminary hearing on 12 June.
The Globe and Mail reported that the fund was put on hold after White House faced fierce opposition from Republicans in Congress, and it said the proposal was dropped as senators returned after their Memorial Day break and faced an impasse with the president over a US$72-billion bill to fund ICE and Border Patrol operations.
The Washington Post described the standoff as an unusual one between the Trump administration and Republican lawmakers who refused to fund immigration enforcement agencies over concerns about the payout fund, while the BBC said Blanche linked the fund to the fate of the $72bn reconciliation package.
In parallel, the BBC noted that the fund’s critics argued it could result in payment to people prosecuted over the US Capitol riot on 6 January 2021, and it reported that former US Vice-President Mike Pence called the fund a "bad idea from the start" and said it should be dropped.
