Senate Democrats are mounting a coordinated campaign to eliminate a controversial $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund created by the Justice Department, with Minority Leader Chuck Schumer vowing to use every procedural tool available to force the issue to a vote.
In a letter to Democratic colleagues Monday, Schumer announced that Senate Democrats would pursue multiple legislative avenues to shut down the fund, which critics have labeled a taxpayer-funded slush fund benefiting President Donald Trump and his allies, including former January 6 defendants, reported NBC News.
“This week, Senate Democrats will launch a coordinated effort to kill the slush fund before one cent goes out the door,” Schumer wrote.
Three Democratic senators — Adam Schiff of California, Mark Kelly of Arizona and Elissa Slotkin of Michigan — separately introduced legislation Monday they called the “Drain the Slush Fund Act,” which would ban payments stemming from lawsuits brought by the president or vice president, retroactive to Jan. 20, 2025.
Democrats are unlikely to have the votes to kill the fund outright, but the campaign is widely seen as a political maneuver designed to put Republicans on the record ahead of the 2026 midterms, when control of both chambers could hinge on a small number of competitive seats.
“If Republicans return to reconciliation, we will be ready with amendments to shut the fund down,” Schumer wrote. “If they try to bury the issue, we will force them to the Senate floor. If they try to sneak behind appropriations, we will fight them there too.”
The fund has already run into significant turbulence. A federal judge in Virginia temporarily blocked it last week following a lawsuit by a former Jan. 6 prosecutor, while a Miami judge reopened a related case after 35 judges filed a brief calling it a fraud on the court.
The controversy has also created headaches within Republican ranks, stalling a separate bill to fund ICE and Customs and Border Protection after a tense closed-door briefing between acting Attorney General Todd Blanche and Senate Republicans.
Schumer made clear that no modifications to the fund would satisfy Democrats. “There will be no escape hatch,” he wrote. “No fake guardrails or backroom promises to hide behind. No Justice Department announcement that makes this corruption acceptable.”
“No matter what Republicans do, we will force them to vote,” the minority leader added.
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