Republican Threatens to 'Kill' Trump DOJ's Anti-Weaponization Fund

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: Newsweek

Published May 20, 2026 at 04:00 PM EDT updated May 20, 2026 at 09:30 PM EDT


Representative Brian Fitzpatrick threatened to "kill" the $1.776 billion anti-weaponization fund announced by President Donald Trump's Department of Justice (DOJ) this week.

Fitzpatrick, who represents a Pennsylvania swing district, is among the Republicans expressing discomfort with the anti-weaponization fund. The DOJ announced the fund as part of a deal to end the Trump administration’s lawsuit against the IRS. The plan has drawn bipartisan criticism on Capitol Hill, as both Democrats and Republicans have denounced it. Newsweek reached out to the White House for comment via email.

What Brian Fitzpatrick Said About the Fund

Fitzpatrick, a centrist, discussed his views on the fund Wednesday. "Bad news. We're going to try to kill it," Fitzpatrick said in a video posted by Meidas Touch Washington Correspondent Scott McFarlane, responding to a question about it.

"We're considering legislative options. We're going to write a letter to the AG [attorney general] to start, but we're considering a legislative option. We're trying to unpack what exactly the legal machinations are, but—he can't do that," Fitzpatrick said.

Read more: https://www.newsweek.com/republican-kill-trump-doj-weaponization-fund-11974868

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He is fighting for his political life. His district, which includes all of Bucks County and slivers of Montgomery County, is waking up. Democrats have slowly taken over the Bucks County government and school districts. They have kept him there out of family loyalty (his brother Mike had the seat before Democrat Patrick Murphy ousted him in 2006 for 2 terms, and then Murphy got swept out in the 2010 bloodbath, and Mike returned for 3 terms before Brian replaced him).

The DCCC issued a case statement yesterday, for why Fitzpatrick is being targeted - The Case Against Brian Fitzpatrick

Excerpts of note -

voting for Trump’s Tax Scam, which gave billionaires and big corporations tax breaks while leaving working families behind, and siding with Big Pharma by voting against capping the cost of prescription drugs. As a thank you for his work in Washington, Speaker Mike Johnson traveled to Bucks County to hold a high-dollar fundraiser for Fitzpatrick’s campaign.

Fitzpatrick is happy to rub elbows with his campaign donors but refuses to engage face-to-face with his own constituents. Fitzpatrick’s last in-person town hall was in August of 2017 – nearly nine years ago.

Fitzpatrick sided with Trump and failed to extend the Affordable Care Act (ACA) premium tax credits. Fitzpatrick may try to trick voters about the role he played, but the facts are clear: when he actually had a chance to vote to extend the ACA tax credits, he took a walk – literally. Fitzpatrick was the only member of the House Ways and Means Committee to miss a vote on extending the tax credits. Afterwards, Fitzpatrick refused to comment on why he sat out the vote and allowed health care premiums to skyrocket.

Fitzpatrick is on the record voting in favor of Donald Trump’s cost-spiking tariffs a staggering eight different times. Thanks to Fitzpatrick’s support for Trump’s tariffs, costs have spiked on everything from groceries to housing. Reports show Fitzpatrick’s tariffs are estimated to cost the average American household $2500 this year. And as Pennsylvania families struggle with rising electricity bills, Fitzpatrick voted to allow utility costs to spike even higher by supporting cuts to commonsense energy tax credits.

Fitzpatrick cast the deciding vote to advance Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill” out of the House. Fitzpatrick could have voted to stop the OBBB dead in its tracks, but instead voted to unleash historic cuts to Medicaid and SNAP in order to fund more tax breaks for his billionaire backers. A local journalist summed up the cruelty of Fitzpatrick’s deciding vote, noting: “the first version of the bill — the one he supported — was pretty damned harsh itself, calling for $750 billion in cuts to Medicaid and nearly $200 billion in cuts to SNAP, all while adding more than $3 trillion to the national debt.”

ALL of SE PA's Congressional delegation needs to be blue. PERIOD. FULL STOP.

[UpInArms]

1. Sounds like he is just a smarmy pos

attempting to fool the rubes by doing one correct thing

[MadameButterfly]

2. You want to support the Republicans who will finally draw a line when the corruption gets this egregious

but then you have to look at how much damage they have done so far to even find themselves in this place.

At first I thought he was showing some priniciples, but turns out it's because he's in a swing district and he's just taking care of himself. The Republicans in safe gerrymandered districts will rubber stamp Trump's corruption.

i'm surprised in a way that this vote could make a difference. In a swing district he should already be toast. But please let him believe there is hope so he will stop the slush fund.

[SpankMe]

3. How can you kill something that's not allowed to exist in the first place?

This dickhead can try to kill all he wants. Trump will just ignore it and continue with his corruption.

[Martin68]

4. MAGATs and Republicans are not only stupid and ignorant, they believe everybody else is, too.

[Bayard]

5. You're going to jail, Buster!

You used the words, "kill," and, "trump," in the same sentence.