The controversial $1.8 billion fund dubbed a ‘slush fund’ for political allies by opponents will be temporarily halted, after the Trump administration’s Department of Justice confirmed it will comply with a federal court order blocking the initiative’s implementation. The freeze, which precedes a June 12 court hearing on the proposal, comes amid widespread reporting that the embattled fund may be scrapped entirely amid mounting pushback from across the political spectrum.
The so-called Anti-Weaponization Fund was born from a civil settlement between the Trump administration and the Internal Revenue Service, stemming from a lawsuit Trump filed after his personal tax returns were leaked by a former government contractor. The administration frames the fund as a mechanism to compensate individuals who it claims were unfairly targeted by politicized law enforcement and government overreach, a practice the president has labeled ‘weaponization’ and ‘lawfare.’ According to official statements from the Justice Department, the fund is open to qualifying people from all political affiliations, regardless of party or ideological alignment.
Critics, however, have painted a far different picture of the initiative. They argue the fund lacks clear statutory authority, has minimal independent public oversight, and stands to act as a pot of taxpayer money to reward Trump’s political loyalists. Among the groups that opponents fear could benefit from the fund are hundreds of people convicted of crimes connected to the January 6, 2021 assault on the U.S. Capitol, an insurrection carried out by supporters attempting to overturn Trump’s 2020 election loss to Joe Biden. Shortly after returning to office at the start of his second term, Trump issued pardons to more than 1,500 people convicted in connection with the Capitol attack.
The legal challenge that prompted the current freeze was brought by a coalition of plaintiffs, who argued the fund is an unlawful collusive arrangement that lacks congressional approval, any grounding in U.S. law, and meaningful accountability mechanisms. Multiple other legal challenges are already pending against the initiative, including cases filed by law enforcement officers who battled January 6 rioters and nonpartisan government oversight organizations.
The proposal has even proven politically toxic within Trump’s own Republican Party. Senate Republican leadership recently delayed a critical spending bill for Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S. Border Patrol, in large part due to widespread Republican concerns that the legislation could inadvertently open the door for taxpayer dollars from the fund to go to January 6 defendants.
Last week, U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema issued an order barring the administration from taking any further steps to launch or operate the fund ahead of the June 12 hearing. In a post to the social platform X shared Monday, the Justice Department acknowledged it strongly disagrees with Brinkema’s ruling, but confirmed it would respect the court’s order and implement the temporary freeze.
Multiple U.S. media outlets including Axios have cited anonymous administration sources reporting that the Trump administration is preparing to abandon the fund entirely, with one source telling Axios the initiative is ‘dead for now.’ When approached for comment by Agence France-Presse on reports of the fund’s cancellation, the White House declined to issue a new statement and instead directed reporters to the Justice Department’s existing post on X.