ReutersThe US Department of Justice (DOJ) says it will abide by a court ruling halting the Trump administration’s $1.8bn (£1.3bn) fund meant to compensate people who allege unfair treatment by the federal government during previous administrations.
In a statement on Monday, the department said it “disagrees strongly with the decision” made by the court.
The administration last month announced what it called an “anti-weaponisation fund” as part of its settlement agreement with US President Donald Trump over a leak of his tax returns.
Democrats have criticised it as a “slush fund”, Republicans have opposed it and a federal judge temporarily blocked its creation until a hearing on 12 June.
The DOJ defended the fund’s establishment on Monday, saying in a statement on X that it was created “to make up for the tremendous abuse, harm, and hate unfairly shown to so many people”.
The fund was “open to anybody who was so weaponized, targeted, or persecuted, whether they were Democrat, Republican, Conservative, Independent, or otherwise”, the DOJ said.
The White House directed comments about the decision to the justice department.
Last week, US Judge Leonie Brinkema temporarily stopped the creation of $1.776bn government fund to compensate individuals who claimed to be targets of political investigation by previous administrations.
The fund had been set aside for “victims of lawfare” to seek compensation, and eligibility for it appeared broad.
Brinkema barred the justice department from taking any steps to stand up or operate the fund – including processing or dispersing claims – until a preliminary hearing on 12 June.
Responding to the judge’s two-page order last week, a DOJ spokesperson said they were “extremely confident” in the legality of the scheme.
The order came down after two men who alleged the fund was discriminatory filed a lawsuit in Virginia. The plaintiffs said they had been targeted for political retribution by the Trump administration but believed they would not be allowed to file claims for compensation.
Many Trump supporters who were prosecuted over the US Capitol riot on 6 January 2021 have expressed plans to file claims, as well as members of Trump’s former inner circle.
Several Republican lawmakers, as well as Democrats, have voiced opposition to the the fund since it was announced last month by Acting US Attorney General Todd Blanche – Trump’s former personal lawyer who stepped in as the country’s top prosecutor after the ouster of Pam Bondi from that role in April.
Senate Majority leader John Thune, the top Republican in the US Senate, has come out forcefully against the fund.
He reiterated his stance on Capitol Hill on Monday by saying that he prefers that the White House shut down the proposed fund if Congress is to pass a $72bn (53.5bn) budget reconciliation package to fund immigration agencies.
“I made my views very clear on the issue,” Thune said, adding that “the best way to handle it is if the administration decides to shut it down themselves”.
Earlier on Monday, Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, the top Democrat in the Senate, signalled that his party would push to eliminate the fund.
“Senate Democrats will push legislation to ban Trump’s corrupt MAGA slush fund and ensure that no president can ever do this again, ” Schumer added on X. “We will make sure that it’s dead and can’t be revived—just like we did with Trump’s ballroom.”
Over the weekend, former US Vice-President Mike Pence, who served as second in command during Trump’s first term, sharply criticised the fund, saying it was a “bad idea from the start” and should be dropped.
