Trump’s $1.8 Billion Fund Paused—But He Still Likely Has Legal Immunity

The settlement provision giving Trump some immunity will be harder to challenge in court than the $1.8 billion fund, legal experts cited by The Wall Street Journal noted, though it’s possible a future Democratic-led administration could take action after Trump leaves office.

Congress could also pass legislation that would invalidate the settlement, though that remains a longshot with Republicans in control of Congress, and Trump would likely veto any bill challenging his agreement. The judge overseeing Trump’s original lawsuit against the IRS is now weighing whether to reopen the case, in response to a request from former federal judges in light of Trump’s settlement request.

That would keep the entire settlement on hold at least while the case remains open, the former judges noted, though it’s unclear if the judge could undo the settlement entirely, or just levy sanctions on Trump and the IRS that punish them for reaching it.

Will The $1.8 Billion Fund Be Reinstated? It’s unclear. Reports prior to the DOJ’s statement Monday suggested the Trump administration was planning to pause the fund indefinitely in response to GOP criticism, but that was thrown into doubt by the agency’s statement saying only that it would comply with the court’s ruling.

The court order only blocks the $1.8 billion fund temporarily while the parties in the lawsuit submit briefs on whether it should be paused for a longer period of time while the litigation is pending. That means there could be another ruling on the fund’s fate as soon as June 12, when a hearing is scheduled in the case.

If the court did lift its ruling and allow the fund to move forward, it’s still unclear at that point whether the Trump administration would start it up again, or keep the fund paused to quell Republican lawmakers’ concerns. Key Background Trump reached his settlement with the IRS as the judge overseeing the lawsuit was weighing throwing out the case altogether, as it was unclear whether Trump and the IRS he oversees as president were actually opposing parties eligible to be in litigation against each other.

The settlement has prompted a widespread backlash, with the “anti-weaponization” fund decried as a “slush fund” for Trump’s political allies, including Jan. 6 rioters. A number of GOP lawmakers have expressed concern about the fund, and the Trump administration’s announcement to pause it—albeit temporarily—came as the fund threatened a separate bill to bankroll Trump’s immigration enforcement priorities.

Democrats had been expected to add amendments to that bill that would restrict the $1.8 fund or get rid of it completely, and at least some Republicans were expected to support those amendments, which stopped congressional leaders from bringing the bill up for a vote and threatened it entirely.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., confirmed Monday prior to the DOJ’s announcement that lawmakers were in touch with the White House about making changes to the fund in order for the immigration enforcement bill to move forward.

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[The Washington Times] Justice Department to drop Anti-Weaponization Fund in compliance with court ruling The Justice Department is dropping a $1.8 billion Anti-Weaponization Fund it created as part of a settlement with President Trump.

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[NPR] Justice Department says it will abide by court order pausing its 'anti-weaponization' fund The Justice Department said it 'strongly disagrees' with the court's ruling that paused a $1.776 fund for victims of government "weaponization," but would still abide by it.