The Trump administration is pausing plans for a nearly $1.8 billion fund that could compensate allies who claim unjust investigation, amid Republican backlash and legal setbacks. - Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche faces a hostile House hearing as GOP lawmakers demand limits on the fund.
- A Virginia court temporarily blocked the fund, and a Florida judge may reopen the IRS lawsuit that created it. - Blanche privately assured senators that no one who assaulted police on Jan.
6 would receive payouts, despite earlier public ambiguity. The administration defends the fund as a remedy for alleged weaponization of the Justice Department under Biden, but Republicans in Congress are pushing to scrap or restrict it.