The Trump administration is planning to drop its $1.776 billion “anti-weaponization” fund, according to a new report.
Axios cited two officials familiar with the matter to detail the development, with one of them saying the fund had become a “distraction.”
“The president believes government was weaponized against people — it wasn’t just him. But this isn’t the time and vehicle for it,” the source added. “It’s dead for now,” another source said.
However, one of them noted that while the current plan is to halt it, President Donald Trump “likes the fund” and “believes in it,” so ” nothing is final until it’s final.”
The report comes after a federal judge temporarily blocked the administration from creating the fund last week.
Concretely, U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkeman of Virginia is also preventing the government from officially creating the fund while litigation to challenge it continues.
Brinkeman has also scheduled a hearing for June 12 to hear arguments on whether to extend the order.
The fund in question, announced by the Justice Department earlier this month, was set to the power to issue formal apologies and provide monetary relief to approved claimants. The DOJ said there were “no partisan requirements” to apply and that any unspent money would have returned to the federal government when the fund stops processing claims by Dec. 1, 2028.
The first wave of public interest came from Trump supporters, Jan. 6 defendants and longtime allies who say prosecutions, investigations or public scrutiny damaged their lives and finances.
The program triggered immediate legal and political backlash. Harry Dunn, a retired U.S. Capitol Police officer, and Daniel Hodges, a Metropolitan Police officer, sued to block the fund, alleging it would reward people who attacked the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Their lawsuit called it a “taxpayer-funded slush fund” and accused Trump of using federal money to finance political allies.
The fund also drew criticism from Democrats and watchdog groups, who described it as an extraordinary use of taxpayer money to benefit Trump allies. Rep. Jamie Raskin, the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, called the arrangement a “slush fund” for Trump loyalists.
Some Republicans criticized the fund too. Sen. Thom Tillis called it a “payout pot for punks.”
“These people don’t deserve restitution; they- many of them deserve to be in prison,” Tillis said following reports that January 6 defendants and Trump allies were already lining up to seek compensation from the fund.
Tillis, who is not seeking reelection and has criticized Trump on different issues, went on to call on Republican colleagues who oppose the measures to speak up, saying “this is not good for my colleagues.”
Senate Majority Leader John Thune said Trump officials “need to help with this issue, because we have a lot of members who are concerned, obviously, about the timing, but also about the substance.”
