Trump’s week in review: House limits Iran war powers; Kennedy Center name removal memo
3. Trump may back away from 'anti-weaponization' fund
The Trump administration appears to be backing away from a proposed $1.776 billion "anti-weaponization" fund intended to compensate people it says were victims of lawfare.
The DOJ issued a statement Monday noting that while it disagreed with a judge's decision to temporarily block the fund, it "will abide by the Court's ruling."
Speaking with ABC News by phone Monday, Trump said his administration was "subject to the courts" and that if "a court doesn't allow it, and right now a court has it held up, what can you do?"
U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema in Alexandria, Virginia, issued a temporary block on the fund last week. A hearing is scheduled for June 12 to determine whether the block will remain in place.
Two police officers who helped defend the U.S. Capitol during the Jan. 6, 2021, riot filed the lawsuit against the fund.
“These people don't deserve restitution,” U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., said, according to The National News Desk. “They, many of them, deserve to be in prison. Some of them deserve the pardon because they were overprosecuted, but this is, uh, I mean, this is just stupid on stilts.”
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche defended the fund, saying in a statement last month that it was "a lawful process for victims of lawfare and weaponization to be heard and seek redress."
"The machinery of government should never be weaponized against any American, and it is this Department's intention to make right the wrongs that were previously done while ensuring this never happens again," Blanche said.
