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Updated on: June 19, 2026 / 2:41 PM EDT
/ CBS News
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Washington — The Trump administration on Friday declined to submit a declaration in court from Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent reiterating that the government is not continuing with a controversial $1.8 billion "anti-weaponization" fund, calling a judge's demand for such a filing "unnecessary."In a notice to the federal district court in Alexandria, Virginia, senior Justice Department lawyers rebuffed U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema's request for the declaration from Blanche, Bessent and Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward.Brinkema said last week that "to avoid any further litigation," the senior officials should file the declaration under penalty of perjury that the "anti-weaponization" program wouldn't proceed "in any manner, or under any name." She also granted a preliminary injunction that blocks the Justice Department from taking any action to create or operate the program, which remains in place.The judge warned that if the administration opted not to file the declaration, the lawsuit brought by a coalition that includes two nonprofits and a former federal prosecutor would move forward. In the notice, Andrew Block, senior counsel to Woodward, said the declaration is "unnecessary and the compelled testimony of senior officials from the Executive Branch implicates serious separation of powers concerns."He noted that Blanche had already testified to Congress that the fund is "not going forward, period," and said similar assertions have been made in court filings from the Justice Department."Accordingly, the Court's demands are unnecessary," Block wrote. "And its presumption that mootness can arise only by compelling testimony from three senior government officials 'implicate[s] separation of powers concerns.' As stated multiple times, the Fund is not moving forward."
