John Cornyn, like most of the Republican Party, has spent a lot of time and energy embarrassing himself at the feet of Donald Trump. He posted a picture of himself reading The Art of the Deal. He tried to get a highway in Texas renamed after the president. The list goes on. But then Trump endorsed Cornyn’s primary opponent, Ken Paxton, in the Republican primary for Senate in Texas earlier this summer, effectively ending Cornyn’s career in Congress. He’s been fumbling around for his spine ever since.
Most recently, Cornyn made a show of opposing the confirmation of Todd Blanche, Trump’s former personal attorney, as attorney general. Cornyn, along with fellow lame duck senator Thom Tillis, wanted assurances that Blanche, who is currently leading the Justice Department on an acting basis, wouldn’t help Trump establish a massive slush fund to give taxpayer money to whomever the administration deemed has been victims of government “weaponization” — including Jan. 6 rioters.
Cornyn and Tillis have since come around, claiming Blanche has committed not to establish the fund to their satisfaction. Trump has made clear that he still wants it, though, and reporters asked Cornyn on Tuesday whether he’s concerned.
“Well, there’s nothing we could do to rein in the president when he said he likes the fund and wishes it still exists, but the fact of the matter is that it’s dead and that’s all we could do under these circumstances,” he said.
There is, in fact, plenty Senate Republicans could and can do to rein in Trump. It’s very much the point of their jobs, and it continues to be a tragedy that they have abdicated their responsibility to check the president’s power because they’re terrified of making him mad.
Democrats in both the House and Senate introduced legislation to stop Trump’s anti-weaponization fund, but nothing ever came of the effort because Republicans would never vote for such a thing. Republicans could have introduced their own legislation to stop the fund, too, but alas, they simply could not. Why? Ask John Cornyn, who is still fumbling around for his spine, which unfortunately for the humiliated senator is still firmly in the possession of Donald Trump.
