The Trump administration told a federal judge Friday there is no need to block implementation of a $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization fund,” 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 the lawsuits challenging the creation of the fund, said the lawsuit is moot because the fund “had not been set up and is now not going forward.” The Justice Department’s filing came hours after Republicans passed a major reconciliation measure funding immigration enforcement on assurances that the administration had abandoned the controversial fund. The administration argued that acting Attorney General Todd Blanche’s statements to Congress, where he told House appropriators that the fund would not move forward, should be considered binding. “In light of the Acting Attorney General’s statements to Congress on June 2, 2026, Plaintiffs’ claims are ‘no longer embedded in any actual controversy about the plaintiffs’ particular legal rights,’” the brief said. 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. The lawsuit was brought by several individuals, Common Cause, the National Abortion Federation and the city of New Haven, Conn. The Justice Department argued the challengers weren’t hurt by its formation, asserting that concerns about political favoritism in the fund were “paranoid.” The brief argued that the challengers could not challenge the process itself as “no formal claims process has been or will be established.” “Regardless, nothing in the Settlement Agreement would have precluded persons targeted by a Republican administration from submitting a claim,” the filing said, even though the settlement itself only mentions “weaponization” of government by Democratic officials. 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 “an immediate and dire threat” to Congress and the constitutional order. 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’s tax returns in his first administration. People harmed by “weaponization” of prior Democratic administrations could apply for compensation, according to the fund’s formation document. The formation of the fund immediately touched off bipartisan criticism in Congress and stalled planned votes on a reconciliation measure. 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’s suit against the IRS. 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.
