Justice Department Refuses a Judge's Order to Swear the 'Anti-Weaponization' Fund Is Dead, and Discovery Is Ordered

After the administration declined to file the sworn declarations Judge Leonie Brinkema had ordered on June 12 — citing separation-of-powers objections — the judge on June 19, 2026 refused to dismiss the case as moot and ordered discovery to proceed. Brinkema had required acting Attorney General Todd Blanche and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to state under penalty of perjury, within one week, that the $1.776 billion 'Anti-Weaponization Fund' would not go forward. The government's position was that the fund had already been publicly abandoned and that the court could not compel cabinet officers to swear to it.

The exchange narrows a broader dispute over judicial oversight of executive commitments to a specific question: whether a court may require an enforceable, perjury-backed representation when it doubts an agency's informal assurances, and what follows when the executive branch declines.

The preliminary injunction remained in place and the case moved into discovery.