Tuberville Introduces Bill to Stop Future Corruption at DOJ

WASHINGTON - Today, U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) was joined by Senators Ted Budd (R-NC), Ron Johnson (R-WI), and Mike Lee (R-UT) in reintroducing the Stop Settlement Slush Funds Act, which would prevent future Democratic administrations from using federal settlement agreements as a backdoor funding source for liberal activist groups.

The Obama administration used settlement agreements to steer money to favored outside organizations instead of to victims or the U.S. Treasury. President Trump's Department of Justice shut down the practice in 2017 and again in 2025 after the Biden administration brought it back. But without an act of Congress, a future administration could revive the policy with the stroke of a pen.

Sen. Tuberville's bill would permanently ban the practice and ensure that settlement funds compensate victims, directly remedy the harm caused, or are returned to the U.S. Treasury.

"We are one election away from these slush funds coming back, and everybody in Washington knows it," said Senator Tuberville. "The Biden administration proved that the minute Democrats get the keys, they will reopen the loophole and start steering settlement money to their activist friends. I have fought this corruption since my first year in the Senate. Congress needs to put this ban into black-letter law so no future administration can bring this scheme back."

BACKGROUND:

The Stop Settlement Slush Funds Act would prohibit settling parties in a federal dispute from reducing their punishments by making "donations" to outside organizations. This bill would end the executive overreach of picking special interest groups to benefit from a settlement. For example, under President Obama's Department of Justice (DOJ), settling parties were forced to pay a portion of their settlement obligations, under the guise of "donations," to outside groups of the Department's choosing that overwhelmingly pushed a partisan agenda. This practice turned federal settlements into liberal slush funds.

MORE:

New Tuberville Bill Stops the Government from Directing Funds to Partisan Organizations

Tuberville: Congress Must Stop the Federal Government's Slush Fund for Partisan Groups

Tuberville Joins Fox Business to Discuss His New Legislation to Stop Federal Slush Funds

Tuberville, Colleagues Call on AG Garland to Stop Sending Federal Funds to Partisan Organizations

Tuberville, Gooden Introduce Bill to Stop DOJ Officials from Funding Partisan Priorities with Corporate Settlement Dollars

Tuberville Bill to Stop DOJ Corruption Passes House

Sen. Tommy Tuberville Proposes Bill to End 'Slush Fund' Settlements to Far-Left Groups

Gooden, Tuberville Introduce Bill to Block 'Slush Fund' Payouts to Activist Groups in Legal Settlements

Senator Tommy Tuberville represents Alabama in the United States Senate and is a member of the Senate Armed Services, Agriculture, Veterans' Affairs, HELP and Aging Committees.

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