Overview
- Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche told lawmakers on Tuesday that the Justice Department "is not moving forward with the fund, period," marking an explicit retreat from the $1.776–$1.8 billion program.
- The fund was created in mid‑May as part of a settlement resolving President Trump's suit against the IRS to compensate people who claim they were victims of politically motivated prosecutions.
- U.S. District Judge Leonie M. Brinkema issued a temporary injunction that barred transfers and payouts and scheduled a June 12 hearing to decide whether the pause should be extended.
- Senate Republicans revolted over a lack of guardrails, blocking progress on a GOP immigration funding package and prompting bipartisan lawsuits that argued the plan violated federal law and constitutional limits.
- Key concerns that helped end the plan included use of the Treasury Judgment Fund to bypass Congress, the Justice Department's planned five‑member commission that was never appointed, and the risk that payouts could reach Jan. 6 defendants; the separate settlement clause barring IRS probes of Mr. Trump and his businesses remains in force while litigation and congressional moves to ban the program continue.