Overview
- Multiple outlets reported Friday that Trump is expected to withdraw the $10 billion case in return for a roughly $1.7 billion program to pay people who say Biden-era agencies targeted them, though talks are ongoing.
- Sources say a five-member commission would run the payouts, the president could remove commissioners, and the process and recipient names might stay confidential.
- Jan. 6 defendants—about 1,600 people charged—and organizations linked to Trump could apply, while Trump would be barred from direct payments under the drafts.
- Officials have discussed using the Treasury’s Judgment Fund, a permanent account that pays federal settlements, in a way critics say sidesteps Congress’s role to approve new spending.
- U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams has questioned whether a president can sue agencies he controls and ordered briefs by May 20, as Democrats denounce the reported plan as a “slush fund” and signal court and legislative challenges.