{"id":204,"date":"2026-06-08T15:41:18","date_gmt":"2026-06-08T15:41:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/americanindustryreview.com\/?p=204"},"modified":"2026-06-08T15:41:18","modified_gmt":"2026-06-08T15:41:18","slug":"lawsuit-to-stop-anti-weaponization-fund-moot-doj-tells-court","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/americanindustryreview.com\/?p=204","title":{"rendered":"Lawsuit to stop ‘anti-weaponization’ fund moot, DOJ tells court"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

The Trump administration told a federal judge Friday there is no need to block implementation of a $1.8 billion \u201canti-weaponization fund,\u201d arguing the administration has already scrapped the idea.<\/p>\n

Read more FISA reauthorization stalls in early-morning Senate vote<\/a><\/p>\n

The , in response to an order from Judge Leonie M. Brinkema of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia in one of the lawsuits challenging the creation of the fund, said the lawsuit is moot because the fund \u201chad not been set up and is now not going forward.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Justice Department\u2019s filing came hours after Republicans passed a major reconciliation measure funding immigration enforcement on assurances that the administration had abandoned the controversial fund.<\/p>\n

The administration argued that acting Attorney General Todd Blanche\u2019s statements to Congress, where he told House appropriators that the fund would not move forward, should be considered binding.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn light of the Acting Attorney General\u2019s statements to Congress on June 2, 2026, Plaintiffs\u2019 claims are \u2018no longer embedded in any actual controversy about the plaintiffs\u2019 particular legal rights,\u2019\u201d the brief said.<\/p>\n

Last week, Brinkema temporarily blocked the Trump administration from proceeding with the fund while a request for a longer-term block from several individuals and advocacy groups is pending. Brinkema also set a hearing on the legality of the fund for June 12.<\/p>\n

The lawsuit was brought by several individuals, Common Cause, the National Abortion Federation and the city of New Haven, Conn.<\/p>\n

The Justice Department argued the challengers weren\u2019t hurt by its formation, asserting that concerns about political favoritism in the fund were \u201cparanoid.\u201d The brief argued that the challengers could not challenge the process itself as \u201cno formal claims process has been or will be established.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Justice Department moving forward with grant office changes<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cRegardless, nothing in the Settlement Agreement would have precluded persons targeted by a Republican administration from submitting a claim,\u201d the filing said, even though the settlement itself only mentions \u201cweaponization\u201d of government by Democratic officials.<\/p>\n

The Trump administration filing came in the same litigation where Sens. Cory Booker, D-N.J., and Bill Cassidy, R-La., submitted a brief criticizing the fund as \u201can immediate and dire threat\u201d to Congress and the constitutional order.<\/p>\n

The Justice Department first announced formation of the $1.8 billion fund as part of a settlement in a lawsuit brought by President Donald Trump against his own administration over the leak of Trump\u2019s tax returns in his first administration.<\/p>\n

People harmed by \u201cweaponization\u201d of prior Democratic administrations could apply for compensation, according to the fund\u2019s formation document. The formation of the fund immediately touched off bipartisan criticism in Congress and stalled planned votes on a reconciliation measure.<\/p>\n

There are two other legal cases dealing with the fund, one filed in the District of Columbia by former Capitol police officers and an inquiry from the original federal judge in Florida who heard Trump\u2019s suit against the IRS.<\/p>\n

In the Florida case, Trump and the administration face a June 12 deadline to explain questions about whether the two sides were adversarial enough. A group of retired federal judges filed a brief in that case accusing Trump and the Treasury Department of collusion.<\/p>\n

Read more Wrapup: All-nighter caps Senate work and a short House week<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Trump administration told a federal judge Friday there is no need to block implementation of a $1.8 billion \u201canti-weaponization fund,\u201d arguing the administration has already scrapped the idea. The filing, in response to an order from Judge Leonie M. Brinkema of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia in one of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":203,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-204","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-policy"],"yoast_head":"\nLawsuit to stop ‘anti-weaponization’ fund moot, DOJ tells court - American Industry Review<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/americanindustryreview.com\/?p=204\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Lawsuit to stop ‘anti-weaponization’ fund moot, DOJ tells court - American Industry Review\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Trump administration told a federal judge Friday there is no need to block implementation of a $1.8 billion \u201canti-weaponization fund,\u201d arguing the administration has already scrapped the idea. 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