A federal judge in Alexandria, Virginia, said Friday that a court order blocking the Trump administration’s proposed $1.8 billion settlement fund will stay in place for now. The fund was intended to compensate people who say they were harmed by what has been described as a weaponized government.
The ruling keeps the initiative frozen despite the administration’s recent indication that it plans to abandon the effort. Earlier this month, acting Attorney General Todd Blanche told Congress that the government was dropping the fund after drawing sharp bipartisan criticism.
Government lawyers have since argued that the legal challenges against the fund should be dismissed as moot. But attorneys for the plaintiffs said Blanche’s statements alone were not enough to guarantee the proposal would not be revived.
U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema appeared to agree. In court, she said the government’s argument that the case was now moot was unpersuasive, adding, “The mootness argument, in my view, doesn’t go anywhere.”
Brinkema ordered that the block remain in effect until the court says otherwise. She also gave both sides one week to work out an agreement under which Blanche would submit a sworn declaration stating that the administration will not move forward with the fund.
The judge’s skepticism comes as President Donald Trump has not publicly offered a clear and definitive endorsement of canceling the program. Instead, he has continued to voice support for the fund in comments to reporters, leaving open questions about whether the plan could resurface.
Brinkema previously agreed to temporarily block the administration from proceeding with the fund for at least two weeks. Her May 29 order was due to expire on Friday.
Trump’s Republican administration created the fund to resolve his lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service over the leak of his tax returns.
Plaintiffs who sued to block fund payouts argue that the government can’t legally divert taxpayer money into what they argue is a slush fund for compensating Trump’s allies.
Brinkema was nominated to the bench by President Bill Clinton, a Democrat.
