Trump Administration Pauses $1.8 Billion Fund for Allies Amid Legal and Political Backlash

The Trump administration announced Monday it would temporarily halt a $1.8 billion fund intended to compensate allies of President Donald Trump, complying with a federal court order after facing intense backlash from Republicans concerned about oversight and potential payouts to participants in the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot. The Justice Department said it "disagrees strongly" with the ruling by U.S.

District Judge Leonie Brinkema in Virginia, which blocked the fund's formation pending a June 12 hearing, but would abide by it. The fund, officially called the "Anti-Weaponization Fund," was established to resolve Trump's lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service over the leak of his tax returns.

The administration defended it as a corrective measure for what it claimed was weaponized law enforcement during the Biden administration. However, the reaction among Republicans in Congress has been hostile, with lawmakers raising concerns about the lack of oversight and the potential for payouts to those involved in the Capitol riot.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune indicated he hoped the White House would drop the fund entirely. "I do think the best way to handle it is if the administration decides to shut it down themselves," Thune told reporters.

The fund has complicated efforts to pass a Homeland Security spending bill, as Republicans said they won't have the votes until the White House works with them to place parameters on the fund. Separately, a federal judge in Florida overseeing Trump's lawsuit against the IRS ordered his attorneys to respond to allegations that the president abandoned his claims to avoid court scrutiny of an illegal deal.

U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams gave them until June 12 to respond to allegations of collusion and whether the case should be reopened because the court was the "victim of a fraud."