President Donald Trump is reconsidering whether to move forward with a $1.8 billion fund intended to compensate his allies, a person familiar with his thinking said on Monday, as the Justice Department said it would temporarily pause its implementation to comply with a court order. The potential retreat is a nod to the legal setbacks the fund has encountered since it was announced two weeks ago and a recognition of the mounting political backlash from Republicans concerned by a lack of oversight of the money's disbursement and the potential for payouts to participants in the January 6, 2021, riot at the US Capitol. The Trump administration had defended the $1.776 billion “Anti-Weaponisation Fund”, established to resolve Trump’s lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service over the leak of his tax returns, as an appropriate corrective measure for what officials insist was weaponised law enforcement during the Biden administration. But while some Trump supporters – including participants in the Capitol riot – celebrated the announcement of the fund, the reaction among Republicans in Congress has been decidedly more hostile. The outrage came to a head last month at a closed-door meeting between senators and acting Attorney General Todd Blanche that Republican Senator Ted Cruz of Texas described on a recent episode of his podcast as “one of the roughest meetings I’ve seen in my entire time in the Senate”. Read moreTrump drops $10 billion IRS lawsuit in exchange for $1.7 billion fund for allies The furore has especially complicated matters in the Senate, where Republicans defiantly left town 10 days ago without passing legislation to fund Trump’s immigration enforcement agencies. Republicans who returned to Washington on Monday said they will not have the votes to pass the Homeland Security spending bill until the White House works with them to place parameters on the fund. Many have pushed the administration to impose limits or scrap the idea altogether. Amid the backlash, a person familiar with the matter, who insisted on anonymity to discuss the president’s thinking, said on Monday that Trump was reconsidering whether to move forward with the fund. But it was not clear whether the Justice Department’s statement that it would pause action on the fund was definitive enough for the Senate to be able to move the bill forward. “They need to say what they actually mean,” said Republican Senator Jim Lankford. “They need to say, ‘We’re setting this whole thing aside.’” Senate Majority Leader John Thune indicated on Monday that he hoped the White House would move to drop the fund. “I do think the best way to handle it is if the administration decides to shut it down themselves,” Thune told reporters. He said any additional statements from the administration would be helpful, but added: “I think the statement they made effectively shuts it down. We’ll find out.”