Republicans used to criticize “sue and settle” tactics for changing federal policy outside of the democratic process, but the Trump administration is taking the practice to a new extreme.
President Donald Trump “settled” his own lawsuit against the government he leads on Monday with an agreement to create a nearly $2 billion pot of money for distribution to “victims of lawfare,” as he sees fit.
If this stands, it will become a template for all future American presidents to shower financial benefits on friends and allies without accountability.
Trump filed the $10 billion suit against the IRS earlier this year over a contractor’s theft of his tax returns during his first term. The leak was egregious, and the perpetrator arguably got a lenient plea deal. But it never made sense for a president’s subordinates to decide what damages he was owed.
The settlement announced by Justice Department officials will establish a $1.776 billion fund. Americans who say they were victims of government “weaponization,” excluding Trump and immediate family members, can submit claims.
The fund will pay out for two years before conveniently ceasing to exist right after the 2028 election, ensuring Democrats never get control over the money.
The fund will be under the control of five people appointed by the attorney general. They can be fired at will by Trump, meaning the money can go only to people the president sympathizes with. Don’t expect James B. Comey — who is fighting an utterly frivolous prosecution by the Trump Justice Department in North Carolina — to win any compensation.
Instead the money will presumably flow to conservative figures investigated or prosecuted during the Biden years. But people who are victims of malicious prosecution can seek recompense through the normal legal process. If that process is too onerous, Congress can change the law. The new model of “compensation” the Trump administration just invented lacks normal legislative and judicial checks.
Conservatives rightly blasted the use of sue-and-settle tactics employed by progressive groups during the Obama administration.
Instead of fighting lawsuits brought by environmentalists, for example, the Environmental Protection Agency would enter settlements that gave them what they wanted. The goal was to use the illusion of an adversarial legal process to lock in progressive policy wins without formal rulemaking that couldn’t pass muster or legislation that couldn’t pass either chamber.
Trump is exploiting the legal system in the same way, but the conflict is far more overt because the lawsuit being “settled” was filed by Trump himself. The administration also points to a $680 million class action settlement implemented under the Obama administration, but that figure was approved by a judge.
The Trump administration is stretching executive authority to a breaking point, and Democratic politicians are taking note. The $1.776 billion to be deposited in the settlement fund is meant to evoke the year Americans declared independence. It’s a reminder that spending taxpayer funds without the consent of their representatives is liable to generate revolutionary sentiments.
