The Trump administration prepared to abandon its $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization fund” Monday after intense pushback from GOP lawmakers, potentially removing the biggest obstacle to a reconciliation bill for immigration enforcement.

The administration will comply with a Friday order from a federal judge that temporarily blocks the fund, though it “disagrees strongly” with the ruling, the Justice Department said Monday in a post on X, formerly Twitter. The White House declined to provide additional comment on the statement. 

U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema, in the Eastern District of Virginia, blocked the formation of the fund, as well as any payouts, until a June 12 hearing where she will hear arguments on extending the order. “The Department will abide by the Court’s ruling,” the Justice Department said.

The fund, announced late last month, was aimed at those deemed “victims of lawfare and weaponization” by previous administrations, according to Justice Department talking points circulated to lawmakers last month. But lawmakers of both parties had expressed concern that people convicted of attacking law enforcement officers, particularly in the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, could be eligible for compensation. 

The backlash was significant enough that senators left town for their Memorial Day recess after a testy meeting with Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche without voting on the nearly $72 billion budget reconciliation package – a sharp rebuke to the White House and a hard pivot from the beginning of that week, when the bill seemed poised to sail through both the House and the Senate. 

But it wasn’t yet clear whether the White House’s move will be enough to fully assuage Republican concerns. Senate GOP leadership punted on the reconciliation package ahead of the recess in part because there was interest from within the conference to back potential amendments from Democrats to impose guardrails on the fund.

“I made my views clear on the subject, and we’ll see what happens,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., told reporters ahead of the Justice Department statement. “I think the best way to get the reconciliation bill moving across the finish line is to confine it to the issues that we were addressing in the initial bill,” which was focused on funding immigration agencies for the remainder of President Donald Trump’s term.

When asked about the fate of another key obstacle for the reconciliation bill — a $1 billion Secret Service provision related to the planned White House ballroom — Thune again emphasized the importance of keeping the bill narrow to ensure its passage. Republicans had already signaled they were prepared to strip that provision from the bill.

Impact on reconciliation

The apparent about-face on the Justice Department fund could further clear a path for passage of the filibuster-proof reconciliation package, should Senate Republicans feel their concerns have been addressed. However, Democrats were already preparing to offer amendments to prohibit the fund during the required “vote-a-rama,” during which senators can offer unlimited amendments to a budget reconciliation package.  

Thune said he expects the impact of any amendment proposals to be blunted by a commitment from the administration to kill the fund. 

Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y., said on social media Monday that Democrats also plan to push a separate bill aimed at banning such a fund, because “Trump’s word is nowhere near enough.” 

“If Trump and Republicans are truly abandoning this corrupt scheme, they should have zero problem banning it in law,” Schumer wrote. 

Thune told reporters he wasn’t sure whether there was an appetite within his conference for further legislative efforts outside of budget reconciliation to restrict or prevent such a fund. 

“But I do think that the best way to handle it is if the administration decides to shut it down themselves,” he added.