US President Donald Trump is reconsidering whether to move forward with a USD 1.8 billion fund meant to compensate his allies, a person familiar with his thinking said on Monday even as the Justice Department said it would temporarily pause its implementation to comply with a court order.
The potential retreat is a recognition of the legal setbacks the fund has encountered since it was announced two weeks ago as well as a mounting political backlash from Republicans concerned by a perceived lack of oversight of the money disbursement and the potential for payouts to participants in the January 6, 2021, riot at the US Capitol.
The Trump administration had defended the USD 1.776 billion “Anti-Weaponisation Fund”, established to resolve Trump's lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service over the leak of his tax returns, as an appropriate corrective measure to make up for what officials insist was weaponised law enforcement during the Biden administration.
Though some Trump supporters, including participants in the Capitol riot, celebrated the announcement of the fund, the reaction among Republicans in Congress has been decidedly more hostile. The fund was one of the issues the president spoke about with House Speaker Mike Johnson, whom he met with Monday, according to a person who was granted anonymity to discuss a private discussion.
On Monday, a person familiar with the matter who insisted on anonymity to discuss the president's thinking, said Trump was reconsidering whether to move forward with the fund. The Justice Department said separately that it would comply with a ruling by a federal judge in Virginia on Friday that halted plans for the fund pending additional arguments later this month, even as it noted that it “disagrees strongly” with that decision.
Lawmakers have raised concerns about the lack of oversight of the money and pushed the administration to either impose limits on the fund or scrap it altogether. It especially complicated matters in the Senate, where Republicans defiantly left town 10 days ago without passing legislation to fund Trump's immigration enforcement agencies.
Republicans who returned to Washington on Monday said they won't have the votes to pass the Homeland Security spending bill until the White House works with them to place parameters on the fund. Senate Majority Leader John Thune indicated on Monday that he hoped the White House would move to drop the fund.
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