Overview
- Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche told lawmakers Tuesday that the Justice Department is not moving forward with the $1.776–$1.8 billion Anti‑Weaponization Fund and said that statement will be part of the hearing record.
- A federal judge in the Eastern District of Virginia had already issued a temporary injunction blocking the fund and set a June 12 hearing to consider whether the pause should be extended.
- The fund was created as part of a settlement in President Trump’s lawsuit against the IRS and included provisions that bar the IRS from pursuing certain pending probes of Trump and his related businesses.
- Broad bipartisan opposition, including rare Republican revolt in the Senate, helped stall a Republican reconciliation bill to fund immigration enforcement and pressured the administration to retreat.
- Critics pointed to the fund’s use of the Treasury Judgment Fund, the lack of named guardrails for payouts, and multiple lawsuits alleging the settlement sidestepped normal appropriations and proper procedures, and those legal and legislative challenges remain active.