The Trump administration has confirmed it will comply with a federal court order temporarily blocking disbursement of a $1.8bn fund designed to counter foreign weaponisation of emerging technologies. The decision, announced by the Department of Justice late on Tuesday, comes after a coalition of civil liberties groups challenged the programme on constitutional grounds, arguing that its oversight mechanisms lacked adequate judicial safeguards.
The fund, established under the Secure Investments in Critical Technologies Act of 2025, was intended to finance research and development in artificial intelligence, quantum computing, and biotechnology while preventing dual-use technologies from falling into the hands of state adversaries. The court order, issued by Judge Elena Kagan of the District of Columbia Circuit, halts all outlays until a full hearing on the merits of the case can be conducted, scheduled for mid-July.
In a brief statement, a senior administration official said: “The Department of Justice will abide by the court’s ruling while we explore all legal options to ensure this vital national security programme can proceed. Delay in deployment of these funds risks ceding strategic advantage to competitors who do not share our democratic values.”
The halt has already drawn criticism from Republican lawmakers who accuse the plaintiffs of undermining America’s technological edge. Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri called the ruling “a gift to Beijing,” while Representative Mike Gallagher, chair of the House Select Committee on China, described it as “judicial overreach with potentially severe consequences.”
Meanwhile, in London, the Treasury has launched a parallel review of the fund’s implications for the UK’s own technology security strategy. Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves confirmed in a written statement to Parliament that British officials are assessing the legal and operational architecture of the programme. “We are monitoring the situation closely. The UK has its own sovereign interests in protecting critical technologies, and we will ensure our approach aligns with both our legal obligations and our national security priorities,” the statement read.
The review is expected to consider whether the UK should establish a comparable fund or instead pursue bilateral agreements with the United States and other Five Eyes partners. Whitehall sources indicate that the Treasury’s analysis will be completed within 60 days and will feed into the upcoming Comprehensive Spending Review.
The court challenge, filed by the American Civil Liberties Union and the Electronic Frontier Foundation, contends that the fund’s oversight board, which includes senior intelligence officials, lacks transparency and could be used to funnel public money into surveillance technologies without proper congressional oversight. The plaintiffs have welcomed the administration’s compliance with the halt, but caution that the underlying legal questions remain unresolved.
Analysts note that the dispute underscores a broader tension between national security imperatives and civil liberties, a debate that is intensifying across Western democracies as governments race to regulate dual-use technologies. The outcome of the US legal proceedings is expected to have significant ramifications for similar initiatives in Europe and the Asia-Pacific.
The fund’s temporary freeze comes at a time when rival powers, notably China and Russia, are accelerating their own state-backed programmes to weaponise artificial intelligence and quantum capabilities. The Trump administration had repeatedly cited this strategic competition as justification for the fund’s fast-tracked implementation and its exemption from standard public procurement rules.
A spokesperson for the White House National Security Council declined to comment on the ongoing litigation but reiterated the administration’s commitment to “protecting American ingenuity from exploitation by hostile actors.”
