A federal judge on Friday indefinitely extended a block preventing the Trump administration from moving ahead with its $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund, ruling that the government has not provided “absolute certainty” that the supposedly abandoned fund is truly dead, as Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche told lawmakers.
Judge Leonie Brinkema in the Eastern District of Virginia rejected an argument by government lawyers that extending her earlier, temporary block on the fund would be moot because the Trump administration was not moving ahead with its plan. President Trump has defended the fund and suggested that he still wants it. When the president says he wants something, Brinkema reportedly said in court, “that’s a pretty good indicator there will be an incentive and motive to make it happen.”
In a written order, the judge said that, in order to avoid further litigation in the case, Trump administration officials must file a declaration under penalty of perjury “that they will not take any action to create or operate the Anti-Weaponization Fund, and that the Anti-Weaponization Fund will not proceed in any manner, or under any name.” She gave the officials until June 19 to do so and said that the case will proceed if they do not.
The plaintiffs in the case include a fired former federal prosecutor, a college professor, a nonpartisan government watchdog group, the city of New Haven, Conn., and the National Abortion Federation. They argue that the Justice Department’s planned fund is unconstitutional because it bypasses Congress’s authority over federal spending. They add that the fund would improperly exclude people who claim to have been targeted by the Trump administration.
“We’ve successfully locked the President’s personal slush fund for now, and we’ll keep the pressure on until it’s shut down for good,” said Omar Noureldin, senior vice president for policy and litigation at Common Cause, a pro-democracy watchdog group. He called the judge’s order “a massive win, ensuring hard-earned tax dollars stay out of the hands of the President’s cronies and people who violently assaulted law enforcement on January 6.”
Two days before Brinkema issued her order, a different federal judge declined to formally block the Trump administration’s payout fund, saying that he would rely on the Justice Department’s statements that the fund was dead. But Judge Richard J. Leon of the District of Columbia warned the administration that he could change his mind if it took steps to revive the fund
“Don’t play possum with this court,” he said.
The bottom line: Senators who oppose the “anti-weaponization” fund failed this month to formally block it, but Brinkema has done so, and the legal challenges seeking to prevent the fund from being created will continue.