Donald Trump has created a thoroughly corrupt and unconstitutional $1.8 billion slush fund for the benefit of himself and his cronies. While our country struggles under surging gas prices caused by his unconstitutional attack on Iran and under surging costs of goods and services due to his unconstitutional imposition of economy-crippling tariffs, Trump has orchestrated an illegal fund of 1.8 taxpayer dollars that will be doled out to Trump operatives and accomplices who were subject to valid investigations and prosecutions during prior administrations—including people who carried out the violent insurrection against the U.S. government on January 6, 2021.

Trump has attempted to paper the slush fund with a veneer of legitimacy—positioning it as a settlement of a court case and calling it an “Anti-Weaponization” fund. There is nothing legitimate about any of it.

The lawsuit that this fund was created to “settle” was itself baseless, corrupt, and an illegal act of collusion. In January 2026, Trump, his sons, and the Trump Organization sued the Internal Revenue Service—an agency under his authority—for $10 billion, a staggering amount that exceeds Trump’s own net worth and amounts to two-thirds of the IRS’s total budget. Trump claimed that the IRS failed to protect his tax information during his first term. In other words, he is suing an agency under his control for an incident that occurred while the agency was under his control. The lawsuit was suspect for a number of reasons: the merits were weak (the source of the leak was a federal contractor and not a government employee); it is likely outside the statute of limitations; and, perhaps most important, it poses a serious conflict of interest that likely deprived the federal court of jurisdiction over the case. Trump controls the IRS; and he controls the US Justice Department, the agency that is tasked with defending the case in court. Trump has admitted to the clear conflict of interest: “I’m supposed to work out a settlement with myself.” These settlement discussions began even before DOJ attorneys filed anything in court, including their own notices of appearances.

Federal courts have jurisdiction only over cases that are sufficiently adversarial to satisfy the “case or controversy” requirement. Judge Kathleen Williams ordered Trump and the IRS to brief the jurisdiction question, explained (by quoting a prior ruling) that “[t]here must be an honest and actual antagonistic assertion of rights by one individual against another, which is neither feigned nor collusive,” and expressed doubt that Trump’s case satisfied this basic requirement. Her doubt was well placed; the lawsuit—in which Trump controlled both the plaintiffs and defendant—clearly did not.

Just days before these briefs were due, Trump and the DOJ released a document announcing that they had settled the case, with Trump agreeing to dismiss the case in exchange for the $1.776 billion slush fund. The slush fund will be overseen by five commissioners, four of whom would be appointed by Trump’s Attorney General and removable by Trump and one of whom would be appointed “in consultation” with congressional leadership. The fund will “have the power to determine its own procedures for submitting, receiving, processing, and granting or denying claims” and will have the authority to issue public apologies to its recipients. The settlement did not include any promise of public oversight, nor contain any restrictions on who might be able to see compensation. The DOJ is already disclaiming responsibility for corrupt abuse of the funds; Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche’s position is that “the United States has no liability whatsoever for the protection or safeguarding of those funds, regardless of bank failure, fraudulent transfers, or any other fraud or misuse of the funds.” Notably, the agreement included a provision to dissolve the fund just prior to the end of Trump’s full term, which would preclude oversight by any president other than Trump himself—and of course, would prevent these funds from being used to compensate actual victims of political prosecutions, which currently are being carried out by Trump’s captured and partisan Department of Justice.

The DOJ has also announced a remarkably corrupt addendum to the settlement: a provision that “forever barred” the government from examining already filed tax returns of Trump, his family, or their companies.

In the normal course of court proceedings, courts have the authority to approve or reject settlements. But because the DOJ had not yet filed an answer, a motion to dismiss, or even a notice of appearance in the case, Trump was allowed to evade court oversight of his dismissal or the settlement. That the DOJ failed to take even the most basic steps to defend the IRS from Trump’s lawsuit was highly irregular and not surprising. Trump has destroyed the DOJ’s independence, corruptly usurped control and authority over its decisionmaking, ensured that the agency serves his own interests, and repeatedly abused its power to undermine the courts.

The case, the theft of $1.8 billion from taxpayers to pay Trump’s law-breaking and corrupt cronies, the collusion of Trump and the Department of Justice: each exemplifies a staggering level of corruption and an assault on our democratic principles. And in this quagmire, it is easy to overlook the authoritarian seizure of power that is folded into this settlement.

So let us be clear about what has happened here. In 2020, Trump lost his reelection bid. In the aftermath of the election, he sowed chaos, spread disinformation about the election—which was widely recognized by all reputable sources from both parties to have been fair and reliable—and incited insurrection. On January 6, 2021, that insurrection took place. Thousands of insurrectionists breached the Capitol in an attempt to block Congress from certifying the vote that Trump lost. For many hours, while Capitol police were assaulted, while rioters infiltrated congressional offices, while members of Congress hid in terror from violent criminals who threatened to kill them, Trump refused to call off the insurrectionists, refused to condemn the violence, and refused to call in support for the Capitol.

The insurrection ultimately failed, Congress was able to carry out its duty, and President Joe Biden was correctly certified as the winner of the election. Over the next several years, the Department of Justice diligently carried out nonpartisan, thorough investigations and prosecutions of hundreds of insurrectionists. During his reelection campaign, Trump made it clear that he would protect his co-insurrectionists from being held accountable for their crimes. Upon regaining office, he promptly pardoned the very people whom he incited to insurrection, including people who assaulted Capitol police officers, and fired the career civil servants who properly investigated and prosecuted the January 6 crimes. Now, by bringing and then settling an abusive and collusive court case brought by Trump against an agency under his control, Trump has now gained control over $1.8 billion so that he can pay the rioters who carried out an insurrection for his benefit.

And Congress still refuses to act.

The tepid responses from Congress demonstrate a breathtaking breakdown of our democratic process. Ninety-three Democratic lawmakers filed an amicus brief with the court to protest the settlement, which not a single Republican lawmaker joined. And not one lawmaker from either party has filed articles of impeachment against Trump in relation to the $1.8 billion “settlement.” This is not about partisanship, and it is not about politics. This is about a president who is dismantling our democracy, and a Congress which repeatedly fails in their basic duty to protect that democracy from tyranny.

The Framers feared the possibility of elected officials becoming tyrannical and corrupt. For this reason, they built into our Constitution the power and the duty to impeach. The corruption, tyranny, and authoritarian decimation of our democracy is a failure not only of Trump but of Congress, which has faced wave after wave of impeachable offenses by Trump and his cabinet, and done nothing. Who stood by as Trump pardoned violent insurrectionists, and did nothing? Who stood by as Trump fired the officials who carried out these critically important investigations and prosecutions, and did nothing? Who now are watching as Trump steals $1.8 billion from struggling Americans to pay his allies, his corrupt cronies, and the rioters who carried out a siege on our Capitol. Will they again do nothing?

The people should demand better from their representatives. Call upon your representatives to carry out their duty, introduce articles of impeachment against Trump, and force new House floor votes on such articles. Their loyalty must be to the Constitution. In the face of corruption, demand responsible leadership. In the face of authoritarianism, demand courage. And if your elected officials refuse, you must question whether they have the moral capacity to hold the office with which they have been entrusted.

Yes, Congress should file their amicus briefs (which should be—but are not—bipartisan). It should demand accountability. It should carry out investigations, pass legislation to block this fund, and demand answers. But first and foremost, Congress must impeach, convict, and remove Trump from office.