Trump administration appears to back off $1.8 billion ‘anti-weaponization’ fund after rare GOP backlash

WASHINGTON — The Trump administration signaled Monday it is backing off on the creation of a $1.8 billion fund announced by the Justice Department that could send money to allies of President Donald Trump deemed to be “victims of lawfare and weaponization.” It comes after a fierce and rare backlash from Senate Republicans, who threatened to team up with Democrats to block the fund. About half the Republican conference appeared ready to vote with Democrats to restrict or kill it, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, said last week. In a statement, the Justice Department cited a Friday ruling by a federal judge that blocked the fund on a temporary basis, saying it “disagrees strongly” but “will abide by the Court’s ruling.” That judge had only issued an order that temporarily blocked DOJ from taking any further actions on the fund until the court more fully assesses the arguments from both parties; it did not permanently block the fund. A hearing on the issue had been set for June 12. That order came after a Jan. 6 prosecutor who was fired by the Trump administration, and others, sued to challenge the fund in the Eastern District of Virginia. The head of the group that filed that suit — Skye Perryman, president and CEO of Democracy Forward — said Monday that it would be a “major victory” if the Trump administration was “abandoning its illegal slush fund” but said they would continue challenging for the time being. “Until the administration fully abandons the scheme, it’s beyond dispute that it will not recur, and our clients’ harm is remedied, we will be in court challenging it,” she said. “We look forward to the government’s response to the courts and to our filings, and to prevailing on behalf of our clients.” The announcement is aimed at restarting the party-line “reconciliation” bill Republicans are trying to push through Congress to fund ICE and Border Patrol through the end of Trump’s term in office. Those two agencies were left out of the Department of Homeland Security appropriations bill earlier this year. That push stalled two weeks ago before the Memorial Day recess due to the “anti-weaponization” fund. On Capitol Hill, Democrats have threatened to go all out to shut down the fund — through amendments in the reconciliation bill and potentially forcing votes on standalone legislation to prevent the administration from reviving it later. And they’re not convinced by the administration’s suggestion that it will backtrack on pursuing the fund. “If Trump and Republicans are truly abandoning this corrupt scheme, they should have zero problem banning it in law,” Schumer said. “This week, Senate Democrats will push legislation to ban this slush fund and ensure no president can ever do this again. Trump’s word is nowhere near enough.” Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., did not directly say Monday whether Republicans would support a standalone bill to shut down the weaponization fund. “I don’t know, but I do think that the best way to handle it is if the administration decides to shut it down themselves,” Thune said. When asked if the administration needs to be clear that they won’t try to bring back the fund, Thune replied, “That would be the ideal outcome. But I don’t know what they’re gonna say.” Democrats have threatened to force votes on amendments to block the money. And numerous Republicans ripped into it during a private meeting on May 21 with acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, according Cruz, who said he personally supports the fund but that the White House would have “a full-on revolt in the Senate” if it stayed the course. “My guess is they’re probably 45 senators in the room, at least half of them were blasting the attorney general, and they were pissed,” Cruz said on his podcast “Verdict” the following day. “There were multiple senators yelling at the Attorney General, saying this feels like self-dealing.” There was a “jailbreak of Republicans who were bolting, who were saying we’re going to vote with the Democrats and basically kill reconciliation because of this judgment fund,” Cruz added. Republicans control a 53-47 majority in the Senate, and an even narrower 217-212 margin in the House. Numerous Republicans have openly criticized the $1.8 billion fund. At least three other suits had been filed over the lawsuit: Two in Washington, D.C., and another in the Southern District of California. One of the D.C. lawsuits was filed by two officers who protected the Capitol on Jan. 6. A federal judge in Florida who had overseen Trump’s $10 billion IRS lawsuit, which led to the out-of-court settlement between the administration and Trump’s private attorneys that established the fund, had separately asked for further briefing after 35 retired federal judges wrote that the settlement was a product of “collusion” and “fraud on the Court.” The Justice Department was supposed to name five commissioners — all of whom could have been fired at whim by Trump — within 30 days of the settlement that established the fund on May 18, but never made any announcements about the commissioners. Schumer took to the floor Monday to warn that the fund, as proposed, could funnel taxpayer money to “MAGA billionaires, cop-beating January 6 insurrectionists and [Trump’s] own family.” “Trump is claiming that the slush fund is dead for now. But Democrats will not stop until it’s well and truly buried and can never see the light of day,” Schumer said. “Republicans can try to wriggle their way out of answering for this corruption. If Republicans try to force through their reconciliation bill again, the first amendment I will offer will be to ban the slush fund permanently, and forever.”