The Trump administration is planning to abandon the Justice Department’s $1.8 billion “anti-weapons fund” due to legal and political pressure, reports said Monday.
The fund was created as part of the settlement of President Donald Trump’s $10 billion lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service. It is intended to compensate people who were allegedly victims of prosecutorial overreach by the DOJ under the Biden administration.
Reports that the fund was being put on the backburner came after House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., met with Trump at the White House about the fund.
axiosIn its report on Monday, it quoted a senior administration official as saying that the fund “has been exhausted for now.”
punch bowl Separately it was reported that “the administration is expected to announce that they will comply with the court order and will not proceed with armament funding.”
MS Now confirmed the Axios report.
On Friday, a federal judge blocked the DOJ from taking any action to create or distribute money from the fund, as a lawsuit challenging it continues in U.S. District Court in Alexandria, Virginia.
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to members of the media on the South Lawn of the White House before boarding Marine One in Washington, DC, U.S., on Friday, May 8, 2026.
Aaron Schwartz | Bloomberg | getty images
Judge Leonie Brinkema has also scheduled a June 12 court hearing on whether to maintain the injunction against the fund.
Brinkema is overseeing one of three federal lawsuits seeking to block the funds.
CNBC has requested comment from the DOJ and the White House.
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