Dem
47
GOP
53
Late last night, soon-to-be-Attorney General Todd Blanche announced that he has reached agreement with Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) regarding the Donald Trump IRS "settlement." Consistent with that, Blanche posted two documents to eX-Twitter, in which he "formally rescinded" the $1.8 billion slush fund for Trump's handpicked cronies to award to... whomever they want, and also limited the terms of the settlement to tax issues that happened prior to the settlement date. In other words, no IRS amnesty for Trump and his businesses in perpetuity.
We are confident this will clear the way for Blanche to be approved as AG. Presumably, the Senate Judiciary Committee will vote today or tomorrow, along party lines, to send the nomination to the floor of the Senate. Then, 51 Republican senators, or 50 plus President of the Senate J.D. Vance, will vote to confirm. Since Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) is not available, we would guess that Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) will whip Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) as firmly as is necessary, so that even if Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) votes "nay," Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) can cast yet another "principled" vote that doesn't actually matter. If Murkowski can't be whipped, though, then Collins is probably going to have to swallow hard and cast an unpopular vote (a decisive "nay" will aggravate MAGA Mainers, a decisive "yea" will aggravate everyone else).
What we are not confident about is that the sweetheart deal is actually dead. First, Trump really, really wants that money and that immunity. Second, Brett Kavanaugh made promises about Roe to get confirmed, and HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy did the same, and we know how that turned out. Third, this is an administration that is very good at finding and exploiting loopholes. Even if Blanche doesn't "change his mind," he might well find some slightly different way to give Trump what he wants. Remember, an AG who doesn't continuously deliver for Trump in a corrupt fashion is an AG who will quickly be out of work. Ask Jeff Sessions, Bill Barr and Pam Bondi if there are any questions on that point.
While we understand and accept that Sens. John Cornyn (R-TX) and Thom Tillis (R-NC) probably got as much as they could, given how long Blanche would have been able to remain as acting AG, that doesn't necessarily mean they did the right thing. Sometimes there is something to be said for standing up for the right position, even if it's the losing position. Both of those men know full well that Blanche is hopelessly corrupt and sycophantic, and now one of their last important votes as U.S. Senators (and very possibly their last important vote) will be to bestow their approval on his service. If John F. Kennedy were writing Profiles in Courage today, it would be a pamphlet. Or maybe a leaflet. Or a one-page flyer, printed on only one side of the paper. (Z)