U.S. Sen. Susan Collins on Tuesday quizzed Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche about a nearly $2 billion fund to compensate people who were scrutinized by the Biden administration.

The $1.8 billion pool of taxpayer money, announced Monday, was created as part of a $10 billion lawsuit President Donald Trump and his sons filed in January against the Internal Revenue Service. The lawsuit stemmed from the unauthorized release of the Trumps’ tax returns in 2020.

Trump will receive a formal apology from the DOJ, but no money from the fund.

During a budget hearing, Collins, a Republican who chairs the Appropriations Committee, questioned the legal basis for the fund, how claims would be decided and whether the activity would be publicly reported.

“After my exchange with Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche today, I do not support the creation of the proposed Anti-Weaponization Fund,” Collins said in a written statement. “No court has approved the settlement agreement, and that is why the legal basis for the fund was my first line of questioning for the Attorney General.”

Critics have likened the “anti-weaponization” money to a taxpayer-supported slush fund for the president’s friends and allies. They argue it flies in the face of Trump’s stated attempts to streamline government and safeguard public dollars.

Defenders of the fund say some Americans are owed compensation after being subjected to investigations by the Justice Department under Biden.

Blanche said a panel of five commissioners would review claims from those seeking a settlement from the fund. He compared the fund to a program created under President Barack Obama to pay claims to Indigenous people who were treated unfairly by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

“It is true that this is unusual,” Blanche said. “But it is not unprecedented.”

Sen. Angus King, an independent who caucuses with Democrats, called the fund “an outrageous abuse of Americans’ taxpayer dollars.”

“If Donald Trump wants to reward his political friends or the people who attacked the Capitol on January 6th, let him do it with his own money — he’s got plenty of it,” King said in a written statement. “He should not be using the taxpayers’ money; it’s ridiculous that he sued his own government, then had his own people negotiate a so-called settlement. It’s beyond the pale.”

Rep. Jared Golden, a 2nd District Democrat, has aligned himself with Republicans on several issues over the years, but said Tuesday that “nothing about this fund passes the smell test.”

“It’s self-dealing for a president to cut a deal with his own DOJ after suing his own government, and the result is a fund for payouts to his political allies,” Golden, who is not seeking reelection this year, said in a statement. “People who feel wrongfully targeted by the government already have recourse through the courts. This situation is ripe for corruption.”

Rep. Chellie Pingree, D-1st District, blasted what she described as “a slush fund for Trump’s political allies.”

She said in a written statement that she’s concerned some of the money could go to extremist groups, such as the Proud Boys or Oath Keepers, and that those groups might interfere with the 2026 and 2028 elections.

“This is an outrageous abuse of power,” Pingree said. “It’s sickening, it’s dangerous, and it should enrage every single American who’s watching gas and groceries prices skyrocket while Trump and his cronies make out like bandits.”

At Tuesday’s hearing, Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., blasted the comparison to the Obama-era program, noting that those settlements were approved by a judge.

“To compare that case to this one is incredibly deceptive,” Van Hollen said.

Blanche said he would appoint four members, and a fifth would be appointed in consultation with Senate leaders. He said much of the commission’s work will be publicly reported, though some details may be withheld because of privacy concerns.

The commission will stop considering claims on Dec. 1, 2028 — a timeline that coincides with the end of Trump’s second term.

Van Hollen also pressed Blanche about whether people who attacked Capitol Police during the Jan. 6, 2021 riots would be eligible.

“Anybody in this country is eligible to apply if they believe they were a victim of weaponization,” Blanche said.

Nearly 100 House Democrats have signed a legal brief urging a judge block the fund from moving forward.

OTHER BUDGET HEARINGS

Tuesday’s budget hearing was one of four attended by Collins.

Also at the DOJ hearing, Collins pushed back on a proposed 25% cut in funding for programs under the Violence Against Women Act. She said the Rural Victims Program is “especially critical” in helping Maine victims and survivors of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault and stalking.

Collins did not accept Blanche’s claim that the budget proposal would adequately fund those programs.

“I would suggest that cutting the budget for these important programs by 25% is a huge cut, and I hope that’s something the subcommittee will take a close look at,” she said.

At a budget hearing for the Department of Labor, Collins criticized the administration’s proposal to eliminate the Job Corps program, which she said provides a valuable workforce pipeline for Bath Iron Works and other Maine employers.

Job Corps operates at 120 centers in the U.S. and Puerto Rico. Maine has two centers, in Bangor and Limestone.

And at a separate hearing on the U.S. Army’s budget, Collins pressed an official to work with her to close a loophole allowing service members to buy foreign-made footwear even though federal law requires all other uniform components to be American-made.

Collins also questioned the Army’s “very shortsighted” decision to cancel a contract for a robotic combat vehicle, called the ripsaw, at a time when the war in Ukraine is demonstrating the importance of drone warfare. She noted that the ripsaw platform was developed in Maine.

Collins said that a recent military parade highlighting future technology included one of the vehicles.

“(It) seems to me that suggests there’s a lot of value there,” Collins said.

Staff Writer Billy Kobin contributed to this story.