A US federal judge has stepped in to halt the White House’s plans for a $1.8 billion compensation programme that critics have branded a “slush fund” designed to benefit President Donald Trump’s political allies.
US District Judge Leonie Brinkema ordered the administration to stop any further moves to establish or run the fund while she weighs whether to extend the pause.
In her order, Judge Brinkema blocked the transfer of money into the programme, barred officials from reviewing claims and prohibited any payouts. She said the freeze was necessary to prevent funds from being “irreversibly disbursed” before the court can fully hear the challenge.
The ruling marks the latest obstacle for one of Mr Trump’s most politically charged second-term initiatives, one that has already rattled Democrats, legal specialists and a number of Republicans on Capitol Hill.
The Justice Department created the fund under an unusual settlement resolving Mr Trump’s civil lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service over the leak of his tax returns by a former government contractor.
Administration officials say the initiative is meant to compensate people they contend were harmed by government “weaponisation” and “lawfare” — Mr Trump’s phrases for what he argues was politically motivated targeting of conservatives and his supporters.
Opponents, however, argue the programme lacks a clear legal foundation and meaningful public oversight, and warn it could be used to reward loyalists — including defendants convicted of crimes tied to the 6 January 2021 attack on the US Capitol by Trump supporters.
Trump supporters stormed the US Capitol after a rally with President Trump on 6 January 2021
Judge Brinkema issued her brief order after a lawsuit was filed by a group of plaintiffs that includes Andrew Floyd, a former federal prosecutor who investigated and prosecuted 6 January defendants, and Jonathan Caravello, a California professor who was arrested while protesting an immigration raid.
They contend the fund amounts to a “collusive agreement” between Mr Trump and his administration, created with “no congressional authorisation, no basis in law, and no accountability”.
The judge scheduled a hearing for 12 June to decide whether the freeze on the government’s work should remain in place for a longer period.
‘Partisan propaganda’
Neither Mr Trump nor the Justice Department immediately responded to the ruling.
The formal application process for the fund has not yet started. A five-member board is expected to determine who receives compensation and the amounts awarded, but the Justice Department has not named the commissioners or explained the standards they would apply.
Even so, US media reports say people who claim they were unjustly targeted by the government have already begun seeking payments.
Mr Floyd, who previously served in the now-shuttered Capitol Siege Section of the US attorney’s office in Washington, said the administration was trying to fast-track money to political allies while penalising those who investigated them.
The administration “is gifting the people I helped investigate and prosecute after January 6” access to an illegally created process, he wrote in a declaration.
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On his first day back in office last year, Mr Trump granted clemency to more than 1,500 people convicted over the Capitol assault, when his supporters attacked Congress in an effort to overturn Joe Biden’s 2020 election victory.
The administration has also begun taking down Justice Department press releases about 6 January prosecutions, describing them as “partisan propaganda”.
“We will do everything in our power to make whole those who were persecuted for political purposes,” a Justice Department social media account said last week.
But the compensation fund has proved politically radioactive, including among some Republicans.
Last week, Senate Republican leaders delayed a vote on major legislation to fund Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Border Patrol, citing in part concerns that the programme could open the door for 6 January defendants to collect taxpayer-funded payments.
The case before Judge Brinkema is among several lawsuits seeking to block the fund, including challenges brought by law enforcement officers who confronted rioters and by government oversight organisations.
