Trump's $1.77B "anti-weaponization" fund temporarily blocked by federal judge

A federal judge temporarily blocked the Trump administration from moving forward with its https://www.axios.com/2026/05/18/trump-irs-lawsuit-dropped" target="_blank">$1.776 billion anti-weaponization fund in a Friday order.

The big picture: The controversial plan aims to create an https://www.axios.com/2026/05/20/trump-anti-weaponization-fund-judgment-fund-explainer" target="_blank">unprecedented mechanism to compensate people who claim they were wrongfully targeted by the government.

Driving the news: U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema, who was nominated by former President Clinton, https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.vaed.596617/gov.uscourts.vaed.596617.31.0_1.pdf" target="_blank">ordered the Department of Justice to hold off on taking further action on the fund, including transferring money to it.

Editor's note: This is a breaking news story and will be updated with more information.