I was wondering about this too, wish the article said. It's the Treasury Judgment Fund according to https://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2026/08/17/Trump-administrat... which is Executive branch. Does the Judicial branch have a say too though?

> The Judgment Fund is used by the government to pay for court judgments and settlements when it is the subject of a lawsuit, for example.

This payment seems like a clear misuse of the fund, since no lawsuit or settlement existed afaik in this context.