Trump administration signals retreat from anti-weaponization fund

anti-weaponization fund – The Trump administration said it would stop work on a $1.766 billion “anti-weaponization” victim fund after a Virginia judge temporarily blocked it. In a sign of further retreat, House Speaker Mike Johnson’s meeting with Trump on June 1 preceded a Justice Depa

For weeks, the Justice Department tried to move a $1.766 billion “anti-weaponization” victim program into place. Then. after a federal judge in Virginia stepped in on May 29 and halted any further action. the administration signaled it was stepping back—even as Democrats pushed for answers in the Senate.

On June 1, the Justice Department said it would stop working on the fund after the court temporarily blocked its creation. The program was designed to compensate Americans who said they were unfairly prosecuted during the Biden and Obama presidencies. It quickly drew bipartisan condemnation in Congress. with critics calling it a “slush fund” for President Donald Trump’s allies and warning it could funnel money to people tied to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack.

The judge’s order came Friday, May 29. The court temporarily ordered the Trump administration not to take further action creating or operating the fund. That included transferring any federal dollars or considering any claims. A hearing is scheduled for June 12 in a case brought by opponents. including a prosecutor who tried cases against people who attacked the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

In a statement, the Justice Department said it would “abide by the Court’s ruling” while also disagreeing with the order. The administration’s next move appeared to be shaped by political pressure as much as legal risk.

House Speaker Mike Johnson discussed the fund with Trump at a nearly three-hour meeting at the White House on June 1. according to a source familiar with the discussion. The source, who requested anonymity, said Johnson’s meeting with Trump led to the Justice Department issuing its statement. Axios. citing two senior administration officials. reported that Trump plans to drop the anti-weaponization fund entirely. while Bloomberg cited a senior administration official saying it would be scrapped.

The White House did not respond to a request for comment. The Justice Department also did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether it will continue fighting in court to implement the fund, or if it is permanently dropping the effort.

Democrats moved quickly to make the fight a public one. Democrats questioned Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche on a new $1.77 billion fund to help victims of “lawfare and weaponization.” Blanche had announced the idea on May 18 as part of a settlement agreement in a lawsuit that Trump and his family brought against the IRS seeking $10 billion in damages over the president’s leaked tax returns. Under the arrangement. the Trump family agreed to voluntarily drop the lawsuit—meaning a federal judge would not rule on the merits of the claims—in exchange for the fund’s creation.

Blanche’s plan also offered few guardrails. Under the Justice Department’s outline. a five-person committee—each member appointed by Blanche—would decide which complainants were rewarded money. Critics seized on that structure, especially concerns that the fund could reach people convicted in connection with Jan. 6 who later received pardons from Trump.

The administration did not rule out checks going to nearly 1,600 Trump supporters who were convicted and later pardoned for their role in the Jan. 6 attack. Those warnings fed a wider backlash over whether the fund would reward political allies rather than compensate victims.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, for his part, told reporters on June 1 that the Trump administration should “shut it down.” Neither Johnson nor Thune’s offices were immediately available to comment on the White House’s apparent retreat.

The tension is also personal and immediate: Blanche had framed the fund as a response to claims of misuse of power. and Trump had defended it publicly as recently as May 22. Writing on Truth Social. Trump said it would provide “justice” to those who were “badly abused by an evil. corrupt. and weaponized Biden Administration.” Critics argued the program’s reach and design raised the risk that “justice” would land unevenly—particularly for people tied to the Jan. 6 violence.

A federal court in Virginia now sits at the center of that dispute. With the fund temporarily frozen by the May 29 order. the scheduled June 12 hearing in the case brought by opponents—including the prosecutor who handled Jan. 6-related cases—will determine whether the program can move forward at all.

For now. the administration’s message is clear: after the judge’s intervention and after political pressure intensified in Washington. the Justice Department says it will stop working on the fund. Whether that becomes a final cancellation—or merely another pause enforced by the courts—will be tested in the days ahead.

anti-weaponization fund Todd Blanche Justice Department Mike Johnson John Thune lawfare weaponization Jan. 6 IRS lawsuit leaked tax returns immigration enforcement bill Senate Democrats federal judge Virginia court