Alexandria, Virginia - A judge recently ordered President Donald Trump's administration to confirm it has abandoned plans to create a $1.8 billion compensation program denounced by critics as a "slush fund" for his political allies.

During a court hearing on Friday, District Judge Leonie Brinkema demanded confirmation from Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent that the fund has been abandoned.

Judge Brinkema is presiding over a lawsuit challenging the creation of the fund and has already blocked the program designed to compensate people who claimed to have been treated unfairly by the US government.

The call for proof comes after Blanche told lawmakers at a congressional hearing last week that the contentious fund is "not moving forward," but declined to put it in writing.

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The judge said she would declare the case moot if Blanche and Bessent presented a sworn declaration within a week under penalty of perjury that the fund has been abandoned.

The planned fund had drawn criticism from Democrats, legal experts and even some members of the president's own Republican Party.

The Trump administration said the fund was intended to compensate people who suffered from government "weaponization" and "lawfare."

Opponents have countered that the fund had no clear legal basis, little public oversight, and could be used to reward MAGA loyalists, including convicted January 6 Capitol rioters.