Judge Extends Block on Trump’s $1.8 Billion Fund as DOJ Must Swear It Is Rescinded
Updated
Updated · ms.now · Jun 12
Judge Extends Block on Trump’s $1.8 Billion Fund as DOJ Must Swear It Is Rescinded
3 articles · Updated · ms.now · Jun 12
Summary
Leonie Brinkema kept the injunction on Trump’s $1.8 billion “Anti-Weaponization Fund” in place Friday and ordered a sworn declaration next week from the acting attorney general and treasury secretary that the plan is not moving ahead.
Trump’s public endorsement of the fund and DOJ’s refusal to rescind it in writing drove the ruling, with Brinkema saying the president’s comments suggested a real incentive to revive it.
Todd Blanche had told Congress on June 2 that DOJ was abandoning the fund, but plaintiffs argued that statement was not legally binding and pressed ahead with their Virginia challenge.
The taxpayer-funded program grew out of a settlement in Trump’s $10 billion IRS tax-leak lawsuit and could benefit roughly 1,500 Jan. 6 rioters he pardoned in 2025, critics including Sens. Bill Cassidy and Cory Booker said.
If DOJ files the declaration, Brinkema signaled she may dismiss the case as moot; without it, the broader fight over executive authority and Congress’s control of federal spending is likely to continue.