Senate majority leader signals tough road ahead for Trump’s $1.7 billion slush fund

U.S. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) in Washington, D.C., U.S., May 13, 2026. REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz

Much of the criticism of President Donald Trump's $1.7 billion "weaponization fund" is coming from Democrats, who are attacking it as a "slush fund." But some conservatives are speaking out as well — including Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-South Dakota), who is saying he's "not a big fan" of the fund.

After Trump and his allies dropped their $10 billion lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), they did so on the condition that the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) would set up a $1.7 billion fund to help people who, MAGA Republicans claim, were wrongly targeted for "lawfare" under former President Joe Biden and ex-U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland.

According to The Hill's Alexander Bolton, Thune said of the fund, "Not a big fan. I'm not exactly sure how they would use it but my understanding is that was just announced. But yeah, I don't see a purpose."

On the right, the fund is also drawing criticism from the conservative National Review's editorial board — which used much stronger language in a scathing editorial published on May 19.

The Review editors argued that "hard-to-supervise slush funds aimed at financing well-connected political allies are exactly the sort of thing a populist presidency is supposed to end."

Trump is claiming that Biden used the DOJ to target his political enemies, and he is describing the "anti-weaponization fund" as a way to help them out.

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