The Justice Department is officially abandoning plans to establish the Anti-Weaponization Fund, Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche told lawmakers during a House Appropriations Committee hearing Tuesday.
According to Fox News, the announcement marks the end of an initiative that had already been stalled in court after a federal judge issued a temporary injunction blocking its creation.
As a result of the decision, a hearing that had been scheduled for June 12 to examine the legal foundation of the fund will no longer take place.
Blanche made the department’s position clear while testifying before members of Congress.
“We are not moving forward with the fund, period,” Blanche said.
The proposed fund originated from litigation involving President Donald Trump and the Internal Revenue Service.
While the effort had drawn legal challenges and scrutiny, Blanche indicated that the administration still believes the concerns that inspired the proposal remain valid.
“The reasons for the fund are something that President Trump talked about for a long time, which is the fact that there were a lot of people in this country who had their government weaponized against them,” Blanche said.
The acting attorney general emphasized that although the fund itself is being shelved, the issues that led to its creation have not changed in the eyes of the administration.
“The reasons for the fund, I think, remain as important as they were before,” he told lawmakers.
Despite that view, Blanche left no doubt that the Justice Department has ended the initiative.
“But, we are not moving forward with the fund,” he added.
The Anti-Weaponization Fund had become the subject of a legal dispute after opponents challenged its legality in federal court. A judge’s temporary injunction prevented the program from moving ahead while the matter was reviewed.
With the Justice Department now withdrawing the proposal, the upcoming court proceedings tied to the fund are expected to become unnecessary.
Blanche’s testimony provided the first formal confirmation that the department has no plans to revive the initiative, bringing an end to a proposal that had become a focal point of legal and political debate.
Additional details about the decision could emerge in the coming days as lawmakers and Justice Department officials continue discussions over the issue.
