{"id":562,"date":"2026-08-04T10:38:08","date_gmt":"2026-08-04T10:38:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/frontierhousingreport.com\/?p=562"},"modified":"2026-08-04T10:38:08","modified_gmt":"2026-08-04T10:38:08","slug":"republican-senators-pretend-to-constrain-trump","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/frontierhousingreport.com\/?p=562","title":{"rendered":"Republican Senators Pretend to Constrain Trump"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Over the weekend, it looked as if President Trump had backed himself into a corner in his efforts to get Todd Blanche confirmed as attorney general. Texas Sen. John Cornyn, who was recently primaried by Trump ally Ken Paxton yet remains a key vote on the Senate Judiciary Committee for the rest of the year, wasn\u2019t budging in his insistence that Blanche commit in writing to killing the corrupt deal in which the government set up a $1.776 billion slush fund to compensate supposed victims of government violence and Trump personally got immunity from IRS audits.<\/p>\n

Read more Frances Perkins: The Architect of Social Security<\/a><\/p>\n

More from Robert Kuttner<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Trump himself poured oil on the flames in a series of comments and social media posts in which he walked back his previous commitment to end the slush fund and further insulted Cornyn and Thom Tillis of North Carolina, who was following Cornyn\u2019s lead.<\/p>\n

Tillis, who had previously signaled his support for Blanche, then posted a withering comment on X: \u201cDespite comments as late as yesterday that the fund is dead, President Trump clearly intends to resurrect the payout pot for punks \u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

The two holdout senators had little to lose. Both are leaving Congress this year. Both were dispatched in part by Trump\u2019s hostility. Trump made clear that he would not support Tillis\u2019s re-election, so Tillis decided to retire. Trump explicitly endorsed Cornyn\u2019s challenger, despite Cornyn\u2019s decade-long record of dogged loyalty to Trumpism.<\/p>\n

So quite apart from principled objections to the deal, there is little love lost between the two lame-duck senators and Trump. But then, Sunday night, the waves parted. After extended conversations with Blanche, Cornyn agreed to support his nomination. And the details of the deal reeked.<\/p>\n

Though Blanche posted on social media a signed memo formally rescinding the order that created the so-called \u201canti-weaponization fund,\u201d he left most of the IRS deal intact. Trump still gets full immunity from IRS audits of past tax returns, and the scope of the immunity is narrowed to protect \u201conly\u201d Trump, the Trump Organization, and two of his sons. And once Blanche is confirmed, some version of the slush fund could be resurrected at any time.<\/p>\n

Somehow, disgracefully, this satisfied Cornyn and Tillis. It\u2019s far from clear, however, that it will satisfy U.S. District Court Judge Kathleen Williams. Back in May, Judge Williams voided an earlier version of the IRS deal. , she threatened a formal ethics complaint against Blanche for conflicts of interest and misrepresentations. \u201cIn sum,\u201d she wrote, \u201cthe facts before this Court demonstrate there was never adverseness between the Parties; there was never a case or controversy; and there was never a question as to who would prevail.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more The Michigan Revolution Is About Old-Fashioned Politics<\/a><\/p>\n

The Judiciary Committee has now scheduled a vote Tuesday to advance Blanche\u2019s nomination to the Senate floor. But this isn\u2019t quite over.<\/p>\n

MEANWHILE, IN ANOTHER RING<\/strong> of the Senate circus, senators began debate Monday on a short-term resolution bill that would fund the government through December 11. The details still need to be negotiated with the House, and the Senate version excludes some administration requests such as an extra billion dollars for a presidential favorite, a \u201cTrump-class\u201d battleship.<\/p>\n

One provision, negotiated at length between Appropriations Committee Chair Susan Collins of Maine and her Democratic counterpart, Patty Murray of Washington state, blocks OMB Director Russell Vought from finalizing a regulation that would give the White House political control over all federal grants.<\/p>\n

Sounds like a win. But the prohibition expires with the December 11 funding patch, after which OMB is free to issue the regulation. So it\u2019s yet another phony constraint on Trump so Collins can pretend to be a maverick independent until after the election.<\/p>\n

I get why Collins, up for re-election and always slippery, would back this ploy. But what\u2019s wrong with Murray and the Democrats?<\/p>\n

Read more Ted Lasso Is Back, but Is His Moment Over?<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n


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John Cornyn caves and agrees to vote for Todd Blanche as AG, while Susan Collins orchestrates a loophole-ridden deal on OMB rules politicizing federal grants.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":561,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[275],"class_list":["post-562","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics","tag-tagged-anti-weaponization-fund-budget-congress-donald-trump-federal-grants-john-cornyn-justice-department-omb-politics-republicans-susan-co"],"yoast_head":"\nRepublican Senators Pretend to Constrain Trump - Frontier Housing Report<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/frontierhousingreport.com\/?p=562\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Republican Senators Pretend to Constrain Trump - 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