DOJ Halts Trump's $1.8 Billion 'Anti-Weaponization' Fund After Judge's Order and Rare Republican Revolt
A federal judge temporarily blocked the taxpayer-funded payout program created in a settlement with the president, after a Jan. 6 prosecutor sued and roughly half the Senate GOP threatened to kill it.
The Justice Department said it will stop work on a $1.8 billion "anti-weaponization" fund after a federal judge temporarily blocked the program and roughly half of Senate Republicans signaled they were prepared to join Democrats to kill it.
U.S. District Judge Leonie M. Brinkema of the Eastern District of Virginia entered an order Friday halting the fund after a former Jan. 6 prosecutor and others sued to stop it. The program had been created as part of an extraordinary settlement involving President Donald Trump, his family and the Trump Organization, and was structured to provide taxpayer-funded payouts to people who claimed the federal government had been "weaponized" against them.
The fund grew out of the resolution of a civil suit Trump brought against the Internal Revenue Service stemming from the release of his tax returns. Critics across the political spectrum had assailed the arrangement as a mechanism to channel public money to the president's allies, and the lawsuit argued the Justice Department lacked authority to establish such a program without congressional appropriation.
The political backlash proved decisive. In a rare break with the White House, a substantial bloc of Senate Republicans threatened to team up with Democrats to restrict or block the fund. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas said about half the Republican conference appeared ready to vote against it — a striking display of intraparty resistance to a Trump priority.
The Justice Department announced Monday that it would stop work on the fund "following a district judge's decision temporarily blocking the establishment of the program." A source familiar with the discussions cautioned, however, that the administration views the move as a pause rather than a permanent abandonment, leaving open the possibility that officials could revive some version of the program later.
Legal experts said Brinkema's order — though temporary — sends a powerful signal about the limits of executive authority to disburse federal money. The episode also underscored the political peril the fund posed for Republicans heading into the 2026 midterms, with several lawmakers wary of defending taxpayer-financed payments tied directly to the president's personal legal grievances. For now, the money will not flow, and the litigation is expected to continue.
Originally reported by CNN.