The D.C. establishment is showing its true colors in their latest swampy move.
Senate Republicans are considering adding eligibility restrictions to the new “Anti-Weaponization Fund” as part of the ongoing reconciliation bill process.
As part of the settlement agreement in “President Donald J. Trump v. Internal Revenue Service,” the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced the formation of “The Anti-Weaponization Fund,” funding it with approximately $1.776 billion from the federal Judgment Fund. This agreement was formed in place of Trump or his family receiving any of the $10 billion in restitution they sought through the original lawsuit.
FLASH: DOJ expands settlement in Trump-IRS leak suit to cover audits of all tax returns filed by Trump, family members, companies and trusts. Waiver of IRS’ claims contained in addendum signed by AAG Blanche that was not in agreement released Monday https://t.co/i8G1AQc9W4
— Josh Gerstein (@joshgerstein) May 19, 2026
Shortly after former Trump administration U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) communications director Michael Caputo became the first known person to file a formal claim with the Anti-Weaponization Fund, Senate Republicans hinted at imposing restrictions on who could claim restitution.
Senate Republicans are actively discussing ways to impose eligibility restrictions on Americans through the over $70 billion reconciliation bill. The Senate GOP is reportedly weighing whether to add a provision to the bill’s text or an amendment to address their concerns, according to Punchbowl News. Senate Majority Leader John Thune told the outlet Tuesday that he did not see a need for this fund.
THUNE tells me on R’s potentially adding eligibility restrictions for $1.8B “anti-weaponization” fund in the bill or an amendment:
“We’re working on it. I still don’t have an answer for you on that, but it’s a work in progress.”
Thune confirmed there’s a high appetite to… https://t.co/ev3atvkSuD
— Laura Weiss (@LauraEWeiss16) May 20, 2026
Thune wasn’t the only senator to balk at giving Americans a chance to receive restitution from a weaponized federal government.
Scorned Republican Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy, who just lost his reelection bid to a Trump-backed challenger, claimed the fund was “for the president and his allies to pay whomever they wish,” which is a clear misrepresentation of the bill. (Sign up for Mary Rooke’s weekly newsletter here!)
“People are concerned about paying their mortgage or rent, affording groceries and paying for gas, not about putting together a $1.8 billion fund for the president and his allies to pay whomever they wish with no legal precedent or accountability,” said Cassidy.
Republican North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis, who has been a major obstacle in codifying Trump’s agenda, also blasted the fund.
“It will invariably put us in a position where your taxpayer dollars and my taxpayer dollars could potentially compensate someone who assaulted a police officer, admitted their guilt, got convicted, got pardoned, and now we’re going to pay them for that? That’s absurd,” he told Spectrum News.
“Stupid on stilts.”
Sen. Tillis rips into the new DOJ ‘anti-weaponization’ fund and calls it “tyranny.”
Full Interview: https://t.co/DQo2kNNqjK #ncpol pic.twitter.com/ll3lOvwb58
— Reuben Jones (@ReubenJones1) May 21, 2026
Thune’s comments fly in the face of his actions last fall, when he quietly added a provision to the November 2025 funding bill that would allow senators to sue the federal government if their phone records were accessed without their knowledge. The Senate added it at the last minute to a larger funding package to reopen the government during shutdown negotiations.
The provision created a statutory minimum of $500,000 per violation, plus additional damages and relief. This would have meant Congress would have had an avenue to receive millions of dollars in restitution after it was exposed that, during Special Counsel Jack Smith’s Biden-era investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol events and related 2020 election efforts, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the DOJ had obtained phone records for eight Republican senators and one House member without formally notifying them.
The Hill reported that while defending the provision, Thune stated, “there is a high level of interest in addressing the weaponization of the federal government.”
“Obviously, Jack Smith violated the law in the way he went about that. This is something that needed to be addressed, and we’ll see what the House does,” Thune said. “Then we’ll find out what our colleagues here in the Senate want to do. One thing I can tell you is there is a high level of interest in addressing the weaponization of the federal government, in this case, the Biden Justice Department against Article I members, Article I members of our government here in the United States Senate.”
The provision was eventually repealed by a unanimous House vote after backlash over allowing Congress to address the weaponized investigations while leaving ordinary Americans with no recourse. The whole point of the Anti-Weaponization Fund is to help make whole Americans who were targeted by federal government harassment, which is exactly what the Senate was seeking. (RELATED: Go-To For Political News Can’t Seem To Read The Room For Hottest Political Issue)
The idea that senators, but especially Thune, would restrict Americans’ only opportunity to fight back against the federal government is beyond hypocrisy. It speaks to how little elected officials think of Americans.
Money for me, but not for thee. Justice for me, but not for thee.
Follow Mary Rooke on X: @MaryRooke
Sign up for Mary Rooke’s weekly newsletter here!
Read the full article here
