ALEXANDRIA, VIRGINIA — In a major blow to President Trump’s anti-weaponization slush fund, a federal judge in Virginia issued a preliminary injunction blocking the fund. U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema gave the administration a week to file a declaration, under penalty of perjury, that the fund is not going forward.

Brinkema issued her ruling from the bench after a brief Friday hearing in federal court in the Eastern District of Virginia in Alexandria. The judge’s decision swept away arguments raised by the administration that she lacked jurisdiction to hear the case and that other procedural problems meant that it should prevail. She ran Justice Department lawyer Andrew Bloch through his paces on why the administration had not committed to rescinding the fund in writing.

Ultimately, Brinkema found that all the elements were met to issue a preliminary injunction blocking the fund from going forward. But she did give the administration one week to file a declaration from Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, under penalty of perjury, formally rescinding the fund. While plaintiffs were initially hesitant about whether the declaration would be sufficient for them to dismiss their case, the judge said that she would likely find that declaration sufficient to render the case moot.