US President Donald Trump's administration has dropped plans to set up a controversial compensation fund for alleged victims of the justice system, following heavy criticism.
"We are not moving forward with the fund," acting Attorney General Todd Blanche told US lawmakers on Tuesday.
Trump had faced sharp criticism over the compensation fund, including from within his own Republican Party. The administration now appears to have bowed to that pressure.
Critics had described the plan as a slush fund for Trump loyalists and as corruption. Votes on other budget measures in Congress were delayed in an effort to increase pressure on Trump.
In May, the US Department of Justice (DoJ) said that $1.776 billion would be allocated to a new "Anti-Weaponization Fund" intended to compensate alleged victims of politically or ideologically motivated actions by the US government.
Critics feared that public funds could be used to reward Trump supporters who participated in the 2021 storming of the Capitol aimed at overturning his election loss to Joe Biden. Many of those charged during Biden's presidency were later pardoned by Trump once he returned to office in 2025.
The fund was the result of a settlement between Trump and the DoJ: In January, the president, acting as a private individual, sued the government, seeking billions of dollars in compensation.
The lawsuit accused a former Internal Revenue Service (IRS) employee of improperly accessing tax records related to the Trump Organization during Trump's first presidential term and leaking them to media outlets.
The DoJ said that the district attorney's office had reached an agreement with Trump to establish the fund. In return, the lawsuit was dropped.
