Judge Blocks the $1.8 Billion 'Anti-Weaponization' Fund and Orders Blanche and Bessent to Swear It Is Dead

U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema of the Eastern District of Virginia issued a preliminary injunction on June 12, 2026 indefinitely blocking the Justice Department's $1.776 billion 'Anti-Weaponization Fund' while the case proceeds. She ordered acting Attorney General Todd Blanche and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to file sworn declarations, under penalty of perjury, within one week stating the fund is terminated. Brinkema noted that none of the administration's public statements abandoning it 'have been made under the penalty of perjury,' and said she was concerned it could resurface in altered form. She cited Trump's recent statement that he would be 'disappointed' if the fund were not approved. Plaintiffs argued it would unlawfully divert taxpayer money to people convicted of federal crimes, including January 6 defendants Trump later pardoned, raising First Amendment, Appropriations Clause and equal protection claims.

The order goes beyond stopping payments: it treats an administration's informal assurance to Congress as insufficient and demands a sworn, enforceable commitment.

Related challenges remained pending in Florida and the District of Columbia.