U.S. Rep. Lois Frankel has filed legislation that would put a halt to plans for a $1.8 billion fund that could pay pardoned Jan. 6 rioters.

The fund has raised bipartisan frustration in Congress, especially with lawmakers present when rioters in 2020 tried to disrupt certification of President Joe Biden’s election. President Donald Trump has for years maintained his defeat by Biden was “stolen.”

“I was in the Capitol on January 6 when a violent mob attacked the Capitol police and our democracy, so I saw firsthand the consequences when leaders abuse their power,” said Frankel, a West Palm Beach Democrat.

Trump settled a lawsuit with the IRS regarding a leak of his tax records for about $1.8 billion, but the Justice Department announced that rather than a payout, acting Attorney General Todd Blanche would instead be used to redress claims from alleged victims of lawfare during Biden’s administration.

Frankel co-sponsored two bills to halt misuse of the settlement. The No Taxpayer-Funded Settlement Slush Funds Act would prohibit any payments from the Treasury Department’s “Judgment Fund” from ever going directly to the President or Vice President, their immediate families, any entities they control or political appointees.

Meanwhile, the Stop Letting United States Heads Funnel Unauthorized Nontransparent Dollars (SLUSH FUND) Act would relate specifically to the so-called “weaponization” fund being created to require disclosure of any payments and to tax them at 100%.

The fund most controversially has been discussed regarding potential compensation for those charged with crimes after the Jan. 6 riots, which resulted in more than 1,500 convictions and more than 1,200 prosecutions. Trump pardoned everybody charged with crimes connected to the riots.

But Frankel said it’s wrong for any to benefit financially from their crimes. She characterized it as a “slush fund.”

“Now President Trump is using his own Justice Department to create a billion-dollar fund that could reward political allies and January 6 defendants while shielding himself and his businesses from accountability,” she said.

“Americans want lower costs, safer communities, and a government that works for them — not taxpayer-funded payouts for the President’s inner circle.”

Notably, the Republican-controlled Senate has vocally objected to the creation of such a fund as well, widely cited as the reason the Senate left on Thursday without a deal to fully fund the government. That happened after a Republican meeting with Blanche.

“I think it’s stupid on stilts,” U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis, a North Carolina Republican, told Spectrum News.

“It will invariably put us in a position where your taxpayer dollars and my taxpayer dollars will be used to potentially compensate someone who assaulted a police officer, admitted their guilt, got convicted, got pardoned and now we’re going to pay them for that? That is absurd. The American people are going to reject this out of hand.”

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