A $1.8 billion Justice Department "Anti-Weaponization Fund" to compensate individuals "unfairly" investigated under previous administrations drew open Republican backlash on Friday, with Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) calling the program "stupid on stilts" and President 
Donald Trump hitting back by branding Tillis a "nitpicker" and "RINO." Eligibility for the fund appears unusually broad, with Republicans and Democrats both demanding answers and guardrails, the BBC reported.
What is the fund? The Justice Department's $1.8 billion (£1.3 billion) program is designed to pay individuals the administration says were "unfairly" investigated under previous presidents, the BBC reported in its primer on the program. Eligibility criteria as written would appear to cover a broad universe of recipients, prompting bipartisan questions over whether the money is essentially a discretionary pool for political allies.
Who is criticizing it? Tillis called the fund "beyond the pale" early Friday and later said "the stupid stuff is killing our chances," warning that programs of this kind damage Republican electoral prospects, The Hill reported. Trump ripped Tillis on social media as a "nitpicker" and "RINO," The Hill reported in a follow-up, and Tillis punched back the same afternoon to double down on his criticism.
How is the White House defending it? Trump defended the fund publicly Friday, framing it as compensation for those who suffered under what the administration characterizes as politically motivated past investigations, The Hill reported. The Guardian's Politics Weekly America podcast described the program in starker terms, treating it as a "slush fund" for the president's allies.
What is the political fallout? The fight has put a senior Republican senator publicly at odds with the White House over a multibillion-dollar program just months before the midterm cycle picks up, with the "stupid on stilts" phrase already running through coverage as a memorable shorthand. No formal congressional move to block or modify the fund has emerged so far.
Figures referenced: Donald Trump. — JudgeMarket.
