Republicans lash out over $1.776B ‘anti-weaponization’ fund
Emily Brooks / Thu, May 21, 2026 at 5:44 PM GMT-5
Congressional Republicans are lashing out over a nearly $1.8 billion fund created by the Department of Justice (DOJ) this week to give payouts to those who claim to have been the target of a “weaponized” government.
Discontent over the fund contributed to senators abruptly deciding to leave town for the Memorial Day weekend rather than passing a party-line budget reconciliation bill to fund Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Border Patrol — blowing past the June 1 deadline that President Trump set for the bill. Some Republicans are openly eyeing ways to “kill” the fund.
On Monday, the DOJ
created the $1.776 billion fund as part of a settlement after Trump sued the IRS for $10 billion over the leaking of his tax returns. Individuals who believe they were wrongfully targeted by the government can request payouts from the fund and “formal apologies.”
That quickly led to speculation that those convicted in connection with storming the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, could get taxpayer-funded payouts, enraging Republicans who had never been happy with Trump dismissing the rioters’ actions and granting them a mass pardon.
On Wednesday, Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.)
told MeidasTouch that he and some other Republicans are “going to try to kill” the fund and promptly sent a letter to Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche. On Wednesday,
he introduced a bill along with Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-N.Y.) to prohibit federal dollars from being used to pay any claims submitted to the fund.
“Taxpayer dollars will not become a discretionary payout fund. Transparency is not optional. Accountability is not negotiable,” Fitzpatrick said in a statement.
Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.) said that he’d “be willing to consider” using congressional action to block the funds.
“It looks inappropriate,” Bacon said. “When you negotiate with yourself over taxpayer money, it doesn’t look right.”
The biggest show of fury, though, came in the upper chamber — which was set to start a lengthy floor consideration of the ICE and Border Patrol funding bill on Thursday.
Republican Senators were already peeved with the bill initially including $1 billion in security funding related to Trump’s White House ballroom, and the timing of the “anti-weaponization” fund further inflamed the Senate GOP conference’s tensions with Trump.
“So, the nation’s top law enforcement official is asking for a slush fund to pay people who assault cops? Utterly stupid, morally wrong — Take your pick,” Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said in a statement.
Sen. Katie Britt (R-Ala.) said she did not want anyone who assaulted police officers at the Capitol on Jan. 6 to receive compensation, a possibility that Trump administration officials have refused to take off the table.
