The Trump administration has completely shut down plans to establish a $1.8 billion “Anti-Weaponization Fund” intended to compensate political allies, following a fierce wall of opposition from congressional Republicans and a series of halts in the federal court system.
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche delivered the update on Tuesday during a House Appropriations subcommittee hearing, cutting off weeks of speculation regarding the program’s future.
“We are not moving forward with the fund, period,” Blanche stated bluntly.
The reversal marks a massive victory for Capitol Hill lawmakers who had effectively frozen the legislative gears over the proposal. House and Senate Republicans had spent weeks demanding explicit guarantees from the Justice Department that the program would be permanently shelved before they would agree to advance vital funding bills for President Trump’s immigration enforcement agencies.
Originally, the administration pitched the multi-billion-dollar fund as a necessary remedy to correct what conservative officials called the systemic “weaponization” of the justice system under the Biden administration. The White House had argued that the financial payouts would resolve an ongoing lawsuit concerning the unlawful leak of Donald Trump’s private tax returns by the Internal Revenue Service.
While the concept of correcting past political targeting resonated with some base voters, the execution of the program triggered immediate alarm bells among key congressional allies. Lawmakers expressed deep concern over the vague criteria for applicants, particularly after Blanche previously declined to explicitly rule out applications from individuals convicted of violence during the January 6th Capitol riot. Though Blanche maintained that a five-member independent commission would vet the payouts, the political optics quickly became untenable.
The frustration exploded into public view last month during a closed-door meeting between Blanche and Senate Republicans. Senator Ted Cruz of Texas detailed the fierce pushback from his colleagues, noting that the tension boiled over into rare shouting matches.
“There were fireworks at an epic level — and I’ve got to say, it’s one of the roughest meetings I’ve seen in my entire time in the Senate,” Cruz recounted on his podcast. Cruz also noted that behind closed doors, Blanche vehemently denied that violent offenders would ever see a dime, quoting the acting Attorney General as saying “not just ‘no,’ but ‘hell no’” to the idea of compensating anyone who assaulted police officers.
The legislative pressure coincided with a double blow in the courts. A federal judge in Virginia put a temporary, two-week freeze on the fund, while a separate federal judge in Florida threatened to reopen the original IRS tax leak lawsuit based on what the court labeled “grievous allegations” of backroom dealing raised by critics of the settlement.
Faced with a halted legislative agenda for border security and a mounting pile of legal hurdles, the administration chose to pull the plug entirely on Tuesday, clearing the path for Congress to resume work on the stalled Homeland Security spending bills.
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