ICYMI: Booker Leads Bipartisan Amicus Brief to “Slam” Trump’s $1.7 Billion “Anti-Weaponization Fund”

WASHINGTON, D.C. - In case you missed it, U.S. Senators Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Bill Cassidy (R-LA) submitted a bipartisan amicus brief in the U.S. Eastern District Court of Virginia opposing the Trump Administration's creation of the so-called "Anti-Weaponization Fund," leading independent commentators to "applaud" the " bipartisan Senate duo" in their defense of the Constitution. The brief argues that the fund represents an unconstitutional end-run around Congress-an unlawful attempt to direct federal dollars without congressional authorization and potentially benefit individuals involved in the January 6 attack that the fund poses "an immediate and dire threat to our constitutional order and the authority of Congress."

SEE FOR YOURSELF:

MS NOW
June 4, 2026
By: Ari Melber

• Ari Melber: Republican Senator Cassidy joining Booker in a briefing to the supreme court, which marks what we've talked about, the way congress is actually pushing back so much that you might look at this and say, which congress is this?

USA Today
Legal battle over Trump's $1.8B 'anti-weaponization' fund rages on
By: Aysha Bagchi
June 5, 2026

• Sen. Cory Booker, D-New Jersey, and Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-Louisiana, together said in a June 3 court document to the judge who temporarily halted the fund that it's an unlawful attempt to bypass Congress to potentially give money to violent insurrectionists. They said even if the DOJ drops the fund now, it could pursue it later.
• "The Anti-Weaponization Fund presents a threat to our constitutional democracy that this Court has never before been asked to confront," the senators said.
• "Less than a week after the DOJ announced the Fund, defendants who stormed the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, began lining up to seek their share," they added.

New York Times
Senators Cassidy and Booker Ask Judge to Maintain Block on $1.8 Billion Fund
June 4, 2026
By: Alan Feuer

• Two senators - one Republican and one Democrat - have filed court papers urging a federal judge to maintain her block on the Trump administration's $1.8 billion fund to pay people claiming to have been unfairly prosecuted, arguing that its creation last month amounted to an illegal "end-run" around Congress.
• "The anti-weaponization fund constitutes an improper and unconstitutional transfer of taxpayer dollars, including to those who engaged in a violent insurrection against the United States and its democratically elected representatives - including the United States Senate - on Jan. 6, 2021," the senators wrote. "And it entirely bypasses Congress's crucial role under the Appointments Clause in determining who may wield authority as an officer of the United States."
• Skye Perryman, the president of Democracy Forward: "The significance of this bipartisan engagement cannot be overstated. As this administration is attempting to evade accountability and create one of the most brazen power grabs of taxpayer funds in modern history, we applaud these two senators - a Democrat and a Republican - for speaking with one voice: The Constitution still matters."

The Huffington Post
Senators Slam Trump's Rioter Slush Fund In Bipartisan Court Brief
June 4, 2026
By: Arthur Delaney

• The bipartisan duo filed their "friends of the court" brief to the federal judge who already ordered a temporary block against Trump's slush fund in response to a lawsuit from various plaintiffs who argued they are the actual victims of weaponization.
• Cassidy is one of several Republicans who've said they oppose Trump's self-serving settlement and resulting payout scheme. Trump also freed himself from paying any back taxes as part of the deal, which he reached by suing his own administration earlier this year.

MS NOW
Sens. Booker and Cassidy file bipartisan brief against 'anti-weaponization' fund
June 4, 2026
By: Jordan Rubin

• While the Trump administration's $1.776 billion "anti-weaponization" fund has drawn bipartisan criticism, Sens. Cory Booker, D-NJ, and Bill Cassidy, R-La., are bringing that criticism to court.They asked for permission to file an amicus brief in the case of Floyd v. Department of Justice, in which a Virginia federal judge recently halted the fund from moving forward pending further litigation.
• The administration has given mixed signals about backing away from the "slush fund," as critics have called it, which was poised to enrich the president's allies like the Jan. 6 defendants to whom he has already granted clemency.
• In their motion seeking permission to file their amicus brief, lawyers for Booker and Cassidy said the senators are interested in the case "because they took an oath to uphold and defend the Constitution" and "have a strong interest in ensuring that acts of Congress are faithfully executed by the Executive Branch."

Roll Call
Booker, Cassidy back legal challenge to 'anti-weaponization' fund
June 4, 2026
By: Michael Macagnone

• "President Trump's presence on both sides of the IRS litigation, and his own blunt statements that the case was merely an opportunity for him to 'work out a settlement with myself,' make evident that he and the government defendants were not adversaries at all."

CBS News
Bipartisan Senate duo urges court to maintain block on DOJ fund, calling it a "dire threat" to Constitution
June 4, 2026
By: Melissa Quinn

• Sens. Bill Cassidy, a Louisiana Republican, and Cory Booker, a New Jersey Democrat, raised their objections to the fund in a friend-of-the-court brief filed with the court in eastern Virginia. A judge there temporarily blocked the Justice Department last week from taking any action regarding the program, including considering claims or disbursing funds, while she considers whether to grant longer-lasting relief.
• The senators said that the fund violates the Constitution's Spending, Appropriations and Appointments Clauses.
• "To deliberately deploy public funds, in violation of the Constitution and the laws of this nation, to compensate these perpetrators is to use the machinery of democratic government to subsidize an attack on that government's most fundamental processes," the senators said.

The Hill
Cassidy, Booker urge judge to block weaponization fund
June 4, 2026
By: Sophie Brams

• Sens. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) and Cory Booker (D-N.J.) urged a federal judge to block the Trump administration's nearly $1.8 billion "anti-weaponization" fund, joining the legal fight against the payouts even as the administration pulls back on the idea.
  "The Anti-Weaponization Fund presents an immediate and dire threat to our constitutional order and the authority of Congress," lawyers for the lawmakers wrote in an amicus brief filed Wednesday in the Eastern District of Virginia.
• The fund is authorized to issue "formal apologies" and monetary payments to people who believe they suffered "weaponization and lawfare" at the hands of the federal government, according to the DOJ.
• "A scheme deliberately designed to recast insurrectionists-including those who perpetrated violence against law enforcement officers-as victims and legitimate prosecutions as persecution does not merely rewrite history; it creates incentives for similar conduct in the future, with the explicit encouragement of the officials responsible for administering justice," the brief stated.

Democracy Forward
Bipartisan U.S. Senators Urge Court to Keep Blocking Trump-Vance Administration's Slush Fund
June 4, 2026
By: Democracy Forward Press Team

• U.S. Senators Cory Booker and Bill Cassidy filed a bipartisan brief supporting plaintiffs challenging the Trump-Vance administration's so-called "Anti-Weaponization Fund," underscoring the serious constitutional concerns raised by the administration's attempt to create a $1.776 billion taxpayer-funded compensation program outside the authority granted by Congress.
• The senators filed the brief in support of plaintiffs who successfully obtained a temporary restraining order that paused implementation of the fund, preventing the administration from moving forward with the scheme. The brief argues that the fund represents an unconstitutional end-run around Congress's authority over federal spending and appointments and raises grave separation-of-powers concerns

Semafor
June 4, 2026
By: Burgess Everett

• Burgess Everett, Semafor Congressional Bureau Chief: Wow - Cassidy signs onto brief stating, in part: "The Anti-Weaponization Fund presents an immediate and dire threat to our constitutional order and the authority of Congress. Indeed, among other purposes, the Fund is designed to compensate the insurrectionists who stormed the U.S. Capitol on January 6th. The existence of the Fund strikes at the core of Congressional authority and our Constitutional order"

Democracy Defenders
Bipartisan senators file amicus brief challenging Trump administration's $1.8 billion "anti-weaponization" fund
June 4, 2026
By: Democracy Defenders Press Team

• The brief contends that the Executive Branch lacks authority to establish and administer a multibillion-dollar compensation program absent clear authorization and appropriations enacted by Congress.
• The Fund is designed to compensate the insurrectionists who stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. The existence of the Fund strikes at the core of congressional authority and our Constitutional order."
• Amb. Norm Eisen (ret.), co-founder and board member of Democracy Defenders Action and Matt Platkin,founding partner of Platkin LLP: "The law does not allow a president to turn a personal dispute with agencies under his control into a vehicle for spending money however he sees fit. Constitutional limits apply here, and the courts have a duty to enforce them. We are proud to stand with Sens. Booker and Cassidy in urging the court to do so.