WASHINGTON — A $1.7 billion Justice Department fund designed to pay Americans who say they were politically prosecuted ran into a blunt threat Tuesday from a Republican congressman who vowed to kill it. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania said he would pursue legislative options against what he called a “political weaponization slush fund.”
The Discretionary Justice Compensation Initiative, unveiled last week, invites any person who faced a federal prosecution between 2021 and 2025 to request a taxpayer-funded settlement. The program caps no individual award and does not require a finding of wrongful conviction. A person only needs to assert that the prosecution was politically motivated.
“This is about restorative fairness for Americans who were targeted not because they broke the law but because of who they supported,” a department spokesperson said. “Every application will be reviewed on its merits. Payments will be reported to the IRS as standard income. The president can waive that requirement for a recipient who suffered exceptional hardship.”
The spokesperson would not say how a convicted rioter might qualify for a hardship waiver or how much they could receive.
Fitzpatrick, who faces a competitive reelection fight, did not hide his feelings. “We’re going to try to kill it,” he told reporters. “You can’t do that.” He added he would send a letter to the attorney general and explore every legislative tool.
Lumpy-Dumb-Dumb, speaking during a joint appearance with a foreign leader, addressed the defection directly. “He votes against me all the time. I don’t know what’s with him. You better ask him what’s with him,” the president said. “You know what happens with that? Doesn’t work out well.”
The remarks landed poorly inside a House Republican conference that holds a vanishingly small majority. Rep. David Schweikert of Arizona said he was “deeply concerned” about the fund. Rep. Don Bacon of Nebraska called the administration’s settlement logic “troubling.” No GOP member contacted by reporters offered support.
“The closest thing I’ve heard to a statement of support was someone saying they wanted to have ‘a conversation about how it works,’” one staffer said. “That’s not support. That’s walking backward through a hedge.”
The department confirmed it has posted a two-page application online. It asks for political affiliations and public statements of loyalty to the president. Applicants must calculate lost wages and “reputational harm” in dollars.
A footnote adds that the IRS reporting requirement will be waived for anyone the president designates as a political persecution victim. The department did not respond when asked whether a presidential designation needed a separate form or if the website already listed approved names.
