The Trump administration is creating a $1.8 billion fund to compensate people it says were wronged by the federal government, a group that could be largely made up of the president’s allies.
The Justice Department announced on Monday that it was setting up a new $1.8 billion fund to compensate people who it said were victims of “weaponization and lawfare,” a group that will almost certainly be made up of President Trump’s political allies.
The creation of the fund came in exchange for Mr. Trump’s dropping his lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service, as well as two administrative claims he had made against the federal government that he currently controls.
The Justice Department said Mr. Trump would not himself receive money from the fund. But it did not provide many other details about how it would operate or who could be eligible for compensation. That fueled criticism that the money was a “slush fund” that Mr. Trump would use to pay supporters who have faced federal investigations and convictions, including those who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
Here’s what we know:
Where is the money coming from and is it legal?
To create the $1.776 billion program, the Justice Department is tapping an unlimited fund created by Congress to settle lawsuits filed against the government. That pool of money, the Judgment Fund, gives the Justice Department the authority to make monetary settlements without needing approval from Congress.
Under the terms released by the Justice Department, the Trump administration will deposit $1.776 billion from the Judgment Fund into the separate account. Money from that account will be disbursed to the people deemed to be victims of “weaponization.”
Paul Figley, a former Justice Department official, said the proposed payment appeared legal. Congress has long neglected to more tightly control how money from the Judgment Fund was used, giving the Trump administration the ability to make this payment.