U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema said that she will continue to block the “Anti-Weaponization” fund’s creation and operation. This order will remain in effect unless and until the court rules otherwise.
A federal judge on Friday agreed to an indefinite extension of a court-ordered injunction against the Trump administration’s proposed $1.8 billion “Anti-Weaponization” fund.
According to The Associated Press, earlier this month, acting U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche told Congress that the government will likely back down on the fund in the face of strong bipartisan opposition. The Department of Justice has since asked the court to dismiss the lawsuit, saying that its claims are no longer relevant.
However, attorneys for the plaintiffs pushed back on Blanche’s claims, saying there’s no guarantee that the White House won’t change court at some later date.
In response, U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema said that she will continue to block the “Anti-Weaponization” fund’s creation and operation. This order will remain in effect until and unless the court rules otherwise.
“The [government’s] mootness argument, in my view, doesn’t go anywhere,” she said.
Brinkema, notes The Associated Press, agreed to temporarily restrain the Trump administration from creating the fund on May 29. Her order was set to expire today.
Brinkema has since extended the order indefinitely, but said that she would be willing to dismiss the lawsuit if, in the next week, both Blanche and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent file sworn declarations promising to abandon the project in its entirety.
Before issuing the extension, though, Brinkema pressed the Department of Justice as to why Blanche, who’d requested a dismissal, has yet to rescind the order directing the fund’s establishment and operation.
“Your Honor, I didn’t get the chance to speak to the attorney general and ask him that question,” Justice Department lawyer Andrew Block said on Friday.
“You understand there’s a big gap in the record if you don’t have an answer to that question?” Brinkema replied.
Block said that he was prepared, “as an officer of the court,” to stand by statements that the fund wouldn’t proceed, but was unable to explain why Blanche hasn’t taken any clear action to prevent it from being revived at a later date.
“I don’t have an answer as to why that particular piece of paper wasn’t rescinded,” he said.
Brinkema, though, noted that President Donald Trump told NBC News as recently as last week that the Anti-Weaponization fund was “a great idea” and that he’d be “disappointed” if it didn’t come to fruition. These remarks, the judge said, serve as a “pretty good indicator” that the administration won’t likely abandon its plan in the absence of a binding court order.
Attorneys for the plaintiffs in the case have since hailed the decision as a significant victory
“This ruling is a significant victory for the Constitution, the rule of law, and people in America,” said Democracy Forward CEO and President Skye Perryman. “The court recognized the serious legal concerns raised by the Trump-Vance administration’s attempt to create a secretive, taxpayer-funded compensation program operating outside the constitutional safeguards that govern public spending.”
Sources
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