Source: NPR

The Justice Department said it will abide by a federal court ruling that temporarily pauses the Trump administration's $1.776 billion "anti-weaponization" fund while legal challenges proceed. A judge in the Eastern District of Virginia issued the temporary block following a lawsuit by Democracy Forward and others that contests the fund's creation. The fund was to be established under a settlement between President Trump and the Justice Department arising from a $10 billion lawsuit Trump filed against the IRS over leaked tax returns, and it was described by the department as available to anyone who alleged they had been "weaponized" by the federal government. The Justice Department posted on X that it "disagrees strongly" with the court's decision yet will comply with the order, and the Virginia judge is set to hold a hearing on June 12 to consider whether the pause should become permanent.

Separately, U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams in the Southern District of Florida is weighing whether to reopen Trump's original IRS lawsuit after the parties announced a settlement and said they were dropping the case. Williams questioned whether the litigation was legitimate because the president appeared to be on both sides and said the court might be "the victim of a fraud," giving Trump's lawyers until June 12 to respond. The extracted text makes clear the Justice Department publicly objects to the Virginia ruling but opts to follow the court's order, and it does not report any final judicial determination on the fund's legality or on reopening the underlying IRS litigation.