This week’s federal policy round-up covers government accountability, voting rights, immigration, and public health and the impact on our communities. From a DOJ settlement shielding the president from more than $100 million in tax liability to an expansion of refugee admissions reserved for white South Africans, this week’s developments reflect the continued expansion of executive control over federal spending, legal accountability, and public protections. Stay informed and learn more on our website.
DOJ Creates $1.8 Billion Fund While Shielding Trump Family and Companies from IRS Claims
On Monday, the Department of Justice announced a taxpayer funded $1.776 billion “Anti-Weaponization Fund” to compensate people who claim they were unjustly investigated or prosecuted under the previous administration, part of a settlement resolving President Trump’s $10 billion lawsuit against the IRS over a leak of his tax returns. The settlement also bars the IRS from pursuing any audit or claim, pending or potential, against Trump, his family, and his companies on returns filed before the agreement. That waiver most likely ends a long-running audit of a $72.9 million refund Trump claimed on his 2005 to 2008 income, which The New York Times has estimated could have cost him more than $100 million.
Because eligibility for the fund is undefined, an executive-run commission can direct taxpayer money to the president’s political allies, potentially including people convicted over January 6, on matters unrelated to the IRS suit. Trump controls the departments that created and administer the fund, so he can steer federal payments to his own allies while the same settlement clears his personal tax liability. The arrangement also shifts powers the Constitution places elsewhere to the executive: deciding who is compensated, a judicial role, and spending public money, powers held by Congress. It has drawn immediate legal challenges, including a motion to block it from nearly 100 House Democrats and a suit by two Capitol Police officers opposing any payment to January 6 rioters.
Judge Orders Preservation of White House Text Messages, Blocks Guidance Narrowing Federal Recordkeeping Rules
A federal district court ordered the Trump administration to preserve presidential records, including text messages and electronic communications from senior White House officials, and blocked guidance asserting the Presidential Records Act is unconstitutional. It rejected the administration’s argument that the presidential records are the president’s private property and that text messages did not need to be preserved unless they were the sole record of an official decision.
Instead, it found that Congress validly enacted the law to ensure records documenting official government activities are preserved for historical and public accountability purposes. The order applies to White House staff and senior advisers but not directly to the president himself. This decision reinforces a post-Watergate transparency law and could shape how future administrations handle communications conducted through digital platforms.
Supreme Court Sends Voting Rights Act Cases Back to Lower Courts After Recent Redistricting Ruling
The Supreme Court ordered lower courts to reconsider two Voting Rights Act (VRA) cases, one involving Native American tribes challenging North Dakota’s legislative maps and another involving Black voters and the Mississippi NAACP challenging Mississippi’s legislative districts. Both cases involve Section 2 of the VRA, which prohibits racially discriminatory election practices and whose protections were recently weakened by the Court’s decision in Louisiana v. Callais. These two cases raise questions about whether private voters and civil rights organizations can continue bringing these lawsuits or whether only the federal government can enforce the law. The Court did not answer that question and instead sent both cases back to lower courts to reconsider them under Callais. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson dissented, stating that Callais did not address private enforcement and did not justify vacating the lower court rulings.
The Court also declined to revive a Virginia redistricting amendment that voters narrowly passed last month, leaving the state’s current congressional map in place. If lower courts ultimately determine that only the federal government can enforce Section 2, minority communities would lose the primary legal tool used to challenge discriminatory district maps.
DOJ Investigation Threat Follows State Correction of Ballot Vendor Error
Maryland election officials announced Friday that a mail ballot vendor mistakenly sent some voters ballots for the wrong political party ahead of the state’s upcoming primary. State officials identified the error through existing election safeguards, publicly disclosed it, and immediately began issuing replacement ballots to affected voters, emphasizing the problem involved ballot distribution rather than vote tabulation or election results. After Maryland disclosed the mistake, President Trump falsely stated the incident involved illegal ballots and said he would ask the Department of Justice to investigate. The episode shows how election systems can detect and correct administrative errors, yet those same disclosures can still trigger threats of federal investigation and be treated as evidence that election administration is compromised.
President Orders Financial Regulators to Scrutinize Customers’ Immigration Status
President Trump signed an executive order Tuesday directing federal banking regulators to increase scrutiny of the immigration and citizenship status of individuals seeking to open bank accounts, obtain loans, or access other financial services. The order instructs regulators to identify potential indicators that customers may lack lawful immigration status and assess associated financial risks but does not require banks to collect citizenship information from all customers. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is expected to issue additional guidance within 60 days. The administration justified the directive as a financial stability measure.
Immigrant communities, including undocumented individuals and mixed-status families, may avoid seeking banking services if institutions adopt more restrictive practices. This makes individuals more vulnerable to exploitation by increasing reliance on cash and unregulated financial services.
Federal Judge Restricts ICE Courthouse Arrests in New York Amid Dispute Over Continued Enforcement
A federal District Court in New York ordered Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to stop routinely arresting individuals attending immigration court proceedings at three Manhattan locations, finding that people should be able to pursue asylum claims and attend removal hearings without fear of detention. The ruling restores restrictions similar to a now repealed 2021 policy that generally prohibited civil immigration arrests at courthouses except in limited circumstances including national security threats or imminent risks of violence.
One day after the ruling, ICE agents detained a Honduran asylum seeker at one of the covered buildings, with his attorneys arguing the arrest violated the court order. He was released later that day despite DHS’s claim the arrest was lawful. The incident underscores concerns that courthouse arrests can punish immigrants for following legal processes by turning court appearances into opportunities for detention. Such arrests can discourage immigrants from reporting crimes, seeking court protection, or pursuing asylum claims, leaving them more vulnerable to abuse, exploitation, and unresolved legal claims.
Trump Administration Expands Refugee Admissions for White South Africans
The State Department notified Congress on Monday of plans to increase refugee admissions for white South Africans, primarily Afrikaners, from approximately 7,500 to as many as 17,500 people this fiscal year, citing an emergency refugee situation. The policy prioritizes a white minority that, at under 8 percent of South Africa’s population, still owns roughly 72 percent of the country’s individually held farmland, based on disproven claims that white South Africans face systematic racial persecution.
The proposed expansion, estimated to cost roughly $100 million, would deepen a refugee program the administration has otherwise brought to a near halt for people fleeing war, political repression, and humanitarian crises elsewhere. Annual admissions fell from about 100,000 in fiscal year 2024 to a record-low ceiling of 7,500 for 2026. It is reported the U.S. has only admitted three refugees from other countries this year.
EPA Proposes Rolling Drinking Water Safety Standards
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed Monday rescinding federal drinking water limits for four PFAS compounds, known as forever chemicals, that were established in 2024 and restarting the rulemaking process to develop new standards. The agency would retain existing limits for two widely studied PFAS chemicals, PFOA and PFOS, but would allow water utility companies up to two additional years to comply.
EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin said the Biden administration finalized the 2024 regulations too quickly and that restarting the process would strengthen the agency’s legal footing. The 2024 standards were the first nationally enforceable PFAS drinking water limits, and the EPA estimated they would reduce exposure for roughly 100 million people. If finalized, the proposal would delay federal regulation of four compounds linked to cancer, immune system effects, infertility, liver and thyroid impacts, and developmental harms while new standards are developed. The rollback may face legal challenges under Safe Drinking Water Act provisions that limit weakening existing standards as the proposal enters a 60-day public comment period.