A senior Treasury official is out just as a controversial new pot of money comes in. Brian Morrissey, the department's general counsel, stepped down on Monday, mere hours after the Trump administration rolled out a $1.8 billion "anti-weaponization fund," three people familiar with the situation tell the New York Times. Morrissey, confirmed by the Senate just seven months ago, didn't offer comment to the paper, but sources say that in his resignation note, he indicated he was glad he'd had the chance to work for both President Trump and Treasury chief Scott Bessent. Treasury, meanwhile, praised his "honor and integrity" and wished him well. The Wall Street Journal notes that Morrissey, who once clerked for Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, previously was a partner with the Sidley Austin law firm before coming to work for the Trump administration.
The fund, created by the Justice Department, is designed to compensate people who say the Biden administration wrongly targeted them—a group that could include Trump allies and former staffers, as well as some Jan. 6 defendants. Treasury must move $1.776 billion into an account overseen by a panel chosen by acting Attorney General Todd Blanche. The cash will come from the Judgment Fund, a government account that pays settlements without needing Congress' sign-off. The new fund is part of a settlement in a lawsuit Trump brought against the IRS over leaks of his tax information during his first administration, a case he dropped Monday after a judge raised doubts about whether a sitting president can sue an agency he oversees.
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