It only took 11 days for President Donald Trump’s $1.776 billion “anti-weaponization” slush fund to hit a brick wall.
On Friday, a federal judge in Virginia temporarily barred the federal government from taking more steps to create or disburse money from the fund, which the White House created to dole out funds to people who say they’re victims of government overreach.
The two-page order is meant “to ensure that no funds are irreversibly disbursed,” U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema wrote.
This lawsuit came from the progressive advocacy group Democracy Forward, which sued on behalf of several people and entities who claim to be harmed by any attempt to compensate Jan. 6 insurrectionists with public funds. They sought to speed up court hearings and shut down the fund immediately, but Brinkema opted against a rushed process because, she wrote, a “full briefing of the issue will enhance the ability of the court to make a sound decision.”
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Omar H. Noureldin, senior vice president of policy and litigation at Common Cause, one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit, put out a statement describing the order as an initial victory but called on Congress to “act now to permanently dismantle this illegal slush fund.”
Brinkema has already scheduled a June 12 court hearing to consider the group’s attempt to halt the fund entirely. In the coming weeks, the massive slush fund’s origin and implementation will become the central focus of this legal fight.
Trump has said he was unfairly targeted by a criminal investigation into his attempts to overturn the 2020 election and his handling of classified documents.
The fund started with Trump’s $10 billion lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service over a contractor leaking his personal tax returns to journalists. He dropped the suit earlier this month as part of a settlement negotiated through his own Department of Justice that established a gargantuan treasure chest he wants to dole out to those who claim they’ve been unjustly targeted by the government in the past — including MAGA allies and supporters prosecuted for storming the Capitol on Jan. 6.
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche told members of Congress that a five-person board of administrators selected by the Trump administration would sort through applications to receive the money.
Legal scholars have described the fund as an end-run around Congress’ power over government spending, with the administration taking unprecedented steps to repurpose the typical role of the DOJ in determining how the executive branch should pay out tort litigation.
Democrats are livid about the fund. Sen. Ron Wyden called it “the most brazen theft of taxpayer dollars by any president in history.” Rep. Jamie Raskin said it was “fraud and highway robbery.” Sen. Andy Kim called it another indicator that “the corruption and lawlessness is out of control.”
The deal has also rankled Republicans, who ditched plans to vote on an immigration spending package after a number of senators expressed grave concerns about the fund.
Blanche’s private meetings with senators last week failed to convince several of them, with Sen. Susan Collins later telling NOTUS that she remains opposed to it, Sen. Lisa Murkowski calling it “a bomb,” and Sen. John Curtis saying Blanche’s arguments failed to sway him.
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