House Democrats look to bypass Mike Johnson on outlawing Trump weaponization fund

House Democrats are launching a discharge petition to force a vote on permanently blocking the Trump administration's nearly $1.8 billion anti-weaponization fund.

Why it matters: The petition tests whether Republicans' complaints about the fund will turn into votes to kill it and whether Democrats can keep using discharge petitions to drag sensitive Trump fights onto the House floor over GOP leaders' objections.

• A staggering eight discharge petitions have garnered the necessary 218 signatures to force a House vote this congressional session, meaning the tactic cannot be dismissed as a hopeless long-shot.
• The Justice Department scrapped the fund earlier this month after intense backlash from lawmakers in both parties.
• But Democrats and other critics — including a federal judge — have expressed skepticism that it is truly gone, fueling the push to outlaw it for good.

Driving the news: House Judiciary Committee ranking member Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) announced Thursday he is launching the discharge petition on his bill, the NO CARTE BLANCHE Act.

• The legislation would prohibit the use of taxpayer funds to compensate anyone covered under President Trump's settlement with the IRS in May.
• It would also block a sweeping legal immunity deal for Trump, his family and their businesses reportedly arranged by acting Attorney General Todd Blanche as part of the settlement.

What we're hearing: Raskin announced the discharge petition plan in House Democrats' whip meeting Thursday morning.

• The petition is set to go live Friday.

What they're saying: "Although Todd Blanche initially said the $1.8 billion slush fund would not move forward, his own Justice Department emphatically refuses to commit that promise to writing," Raskin said in a statement.

• He continued: "The NO CARTE BLANCHE Act blocks this and any future taxpayer-funded slush fund, voids this unprecedented attempt to grant immunity, and permanently blocks any future abuse of the Judgment Fund."
• "I am filing a discharge petition to put this legislation on the floor, and I urge all my colleagues opposed to this radical assault on the rule of law to join me in signing it."

Between the lines: While GOP lawmakers have joined in the criticism of the anti-weaponization fund, signing onto this discharge petition may be a step too far for some of them.

• Trump has retaliated brutally against Republicans who break with him, most notably his successful effort to oust Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), a leader on the discharge petition that pried the Epstein files loose.