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GOP Sen. Cassidy calls out Trump DOJ’s $1.8 billion compensation fund as ‘slush fund’

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by Alexander Bolton - 05/18/26 7:54 PM ET

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by Alexander Bolton - 05/18/26 7:54 PM ET

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Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), fresh off of his loss in the Louisiana Senate Republican primary, is calling out the Trump administration’s creation of a $1.8 billion fund to compensate people who claim they were targeted by the Biden Justice Department, saying it raises the specter of self-dealing.

“I don’t actually see any legal precedent for that. We are a nation of laws, you can’t just make up things whole-piece,” Cassidy told reporters when asked about the legal compensation fund for Trump allies who were prosecuted or investigated by the Biden Justice Department.

The administration announced the creation of the compensation fund after Trump withdrew his lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service demanding $10 billion in damages for an IRS contractor leaking his tax returns to media outlets.

“Somebody explained it to me this way, an attorney. … It is as if somebody sued themselves and agreed upon a settlement with themselves that’s going to be funded by the rest of us. If that’s the case: What?!” he said.

“Wait a second, I just came off the campaign trail. People are concerned about making their own ends meet, not about putting a slush fund together without a legal precedent. We’re a nation of laws,” he added. “If there needs to be a settlement, let’s consider it and Congress should come together and decide on that.”

Senate Democrats on Monday also criticized the establishment of the compensation fund, and described it as a “slush fund.”

Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (N.Y.) called it “a nearly two-billion-dollar slush fund for his MAGA allies and January 6th insurrectionists.”

“Trump is shaking hands with himself in order to fund his insurrectionist army to the tune of two billion dollars,” he said on the Senate floor.

Cassidy appeared largely unfettered as he spoke to reporters in the Capitol Monday evening after finishing in third place in the Louisiana Senate Republican primary Saturday and failing to make the June 27 runoff.

“I feel great,” he declared when asked about how he felt in the wake of the bruising primary.

Cassidy said he didn’t have any regrets about his decision to vote to convict President Trump on the impeachment charge of inciting insurrection during Trump’s 2021 Senate trial.

“I voted to uphold the Constitution. When I die, if that’s put in my obituary: He voted to uphold the Constitution, it’s going to be better obituary,” he said.

Cassidy pushed back on the legal compensation fund after Trump celebrated Cassidy’s defeat in the weekend primary.

“His disloyalty to the man who got him elected is now a part of legend, and it’s nice to see that his political career is OVER!” Trump posted on Truth Social Saturday.

Other Republican senators said they want to see more details about the compensation fund before rendering a judgment.

Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said he’d like to know where the money for the fund is coming from.

“Obviously, I want to know where the money’s coming from,” he said. “Are we going to pay for it some other way or are we just going to borrow the money? Who would be eligible?

“I just got a lot of questions. I’m open to the concept,” he said. “Does the federal government abuse people? Sometimes, yeah, and those people should have recourse.”

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