Senate Republicans Weaponize Oversight Against Todd Blanche

Senate Republicans stalled Todd Blanche’s nomination for attorney general Wednesday by deploying oversight, written assurances and other procedural weapons once associated with representative government. Sens. John Cornyn and Thom Tillis withheld support after the Justice Department declined to guarantee that a proposed $1.776 billion Anti-Weaponization Fund tied to President Donald Trump’s IRS settlement was fully dead. The senators also demanded clarity on protections shielding Trump and his family from tax audits, recklessly suggesting that federal law enforcement should not function as a presidential customer-loyalty program.

Trump responded Thursday with an elegant constitutional workaround: withdraw Blanche’s nomination, retain his former personal lawyer as acting attorney general and nominate him again after Cornyn and Tillis leave office. “Todd is a STAR, a total star, and the Constitution very clearly says that when senators ask nasty questions, you wait until they are gone and then do whatever you wanted,” Trump said. “That is checks and balances, and nobody has ever balanced them better than me.” The strategy relies on the Framers’ rarely cited “nuh-uh, ask later” doctrine, under which Senate consent remains mandatory unless it becomes inconvenient.

Blanche, meanwhile, continues serving as acting attorney general, leaving the nomination crisis to deprive him only of Senate confirmation rather than the office’s substantial powers. The setback is comparable to being denied a driver’s license while remaining behind the wheel of the bus. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley postponed the vote, confirming that the chamber remains vulnerable to occasional outbreaks of senators behaving like members of the Senate.

Administration allies condemned Cornyn and Tillis for weaponizing anti-weaponization against a fund intended to compensate approved victims of weaponization, with approval controlled by officials accused of weaponization. The objections marked a dangerous escalation in congressional behavior, as lawmakers briefly treated confirmation as a constitutional responsibility instead of a ceremonial group photo. Oversight is now officially weaponization whenever it inconveniences the people in charge.

* None of the quotes in this article were spoken by an actual person. More info.