A federal court blocked the fund temporarily; the DOJ said it will comply with the ruling despite disagreeing with it.
6:52 PM
The Trump administration said Monday it will comply with a federal court ruling that temporarily halted a $1.8 billion fund designed to compensate people who alleged unfair treatment by the federal government during previous administrations.
The Department of Justice announced the decision in a statement, saying it "disagrees strongly with the decision" made by the court but will abide by the ruling. A federal judge in Virginia issued the temporary block on Friday, ordering the fund's creation suspended pending a hearing scheduled for June 12.
The fund, formally called the "anti-weaponization fund," was announced last month as part of a settlement agreement between the Trump administration and President Donald Trump over a leak of his tax returns. The administration said the fund was "open to anybody who was so weaponized, targeted, or persecuted, whether they were Democrat, Republican, Conservative, Independent, or otherwise."
The fund faced significant opposition from multiple quarters. Democrats criticized it as a "slush fund," while some Republicans in Congress also voiced concerns about the plan. Critics raised particular objections to the possibility that participants in the January 6 Capitol riot—whom Trump pardoned on his first day back in office—could receive compensation from the fund.
According to three people familiar with the plan, the fund was suspended after the White House encountered strong opposition from Republicans in Congress when senators returned to Washington following a holiday recess. The resistance from some Republican senators reflected what officials described as a growing appetite among them to exercise more power over the president's actions, particularly after Trump supported alternative candidates in primary elections against two Republican senators seeking reelection.
The suspension came as the administration faced an impasse with Congress over a separate $72 billion bill to finance operations of Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Border Patrol.
In its Monday statement, the DOJ defended the fund's original purpose, saying it was created "to make up for the tremendous abuse, harm, and hate unfairly shown to so many people." An unnamed senior official told media outlets the fund was "dead for now," indicating the pause would extend at least until the scheduled June 12 hearing.
The court's temporary block prevents the administration from distributing funds under any circumstances until the hearing takes place, according to the ruling.
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