Washington DC - The top Republican in the Senate said Tuesday he understood that President Donald Trump's contentious "anti-weaponization fund" to compensate allies who say they were treated unfairly by the government is no longer going ahead.

Senator John Thune told reporters he had discussed the fund with acting attorney general Todd Blanche and confirmed that it was "correct" that, in his understanding, the initiative was now off the table.

A federal judge had already temporarily blocked the White House from moving ahead with a $1.8 billion package that critics denounced as a "slush fund" for Trump's political allies.

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US District Judge Leonie Brinkema barred the administration from taking any further action to create or operate the fund while she considers whether to impose a longer-lasting pause.

The about-face is another setback for one of Trump's most divisive second-term initiatives, which has already alarmed Democrats, legal experts, and numerous Republicans in Congress.

The fund was created by the Justice Department as part of an extraordinary settlement of Trump's civil lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service over the leak of his tax returns by a former government contractor.

The administration said the program was intended to compensate people who suffered from government "weaponization" and "lawfare" – Trump's terms for what he says was the politically motivated targeting of conservatives and his supporters.

Opponents said the fund had no clear legal basis, little public oversight, and could be used to reward loyalists, including defendants convicted of crimes related to the January 6, 2021, assault on the US Capitol by Trump supporters.

But the fund has become politically toxic even among some Republicans.

Senate Republican leaders postponed a vote on a major bill funding Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Border Patrol partly because of concerns that the fund could allow January 6 defendants to receive taxpayer money.

"I had a conversation with [Blanche]... a couple of hours ago, in which he sort of previewed what he was going to say," Thune told reporters, after being asked what the acting attorney general was planning to announce about the fund at a congressional hearing planned for later Tuesday.

"But I think his statement is going to be very definitive, very clear, and create the certainty that I hope all of our members – and House members – need as well, in order for us to proceed on the reconciliation bill."