Trump administration plans to drop DOJ's $1.8B 'lawfare' fund, reports say

The Trump administration plans to drop the Department of Justice 's $1.8 billion " Anti-Weaponization Fund " in the face of legal and political pushback to it, reports said Monday. The fund was created as part of a settlement of President Donald Trump 's $10 billion lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service. It is intended to compensate people who were purportedly victims of prosecutorial overreach by the DOJ under the Biden administration. Reports that the fund was being put on ice came after House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., met with Trump at the White House about the fund. US President Donald Trump speaks to members of the media on the South Lawn of the White House before boarding Marine One in Washington, DC, US, on Friday, May 8, 2026. Aaron Schwartz | Bloomberg | Getty Images Axios , in its report Monday, quoted a senior administration official as saying that the fund is "dead for now." Punchbowl separately reported that "the administration is expected to announce that they are going to comply with the court order and not go forward on the weaponization fund." MS NOW soon after confirmed Axios' report. On Friday, a federal judge blocked the DOJ from taking any action to create or disburse money from the fund for now as a lawsuit challenging it plays out in U.S. District Court in Alexandria, Virginia. Judge Leonie Brinkema also scheduled a June 12 court hearing on whether to maintain the injunction against the fund. …