Outgoing Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), defeated in May’s GOP primary by a Trump-endorsed opponent, made clear Friday he plans to use his “newfound political freedom” to extract concessions from the White House – or blow up its plans in the process, Punchbowl News reported Monday.
At the top of Cornyn’s list is officially shuttering the Trump administration’s anti-weaponization fund, a taxpayer-funded $1.7 billion fund dedicated to awarding payouts to those who’ve claimed to have been unfairly targeted by the Biden Administration’s Justice Department. Cornyn suggested that President Donald Trump’s nomination of Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche could be in jeopardy if the White House doesn’t fold on the fund.
“They’re not enthusiastic about it, but if they want to get [Blanche] out of the committee, I think they realize they need to talk to us,” Cornyn said, according to Punchbowl News.
Now freed of any threats of being primaried by a Trump-endorsed opponent, Cornyn has already used his “newfound political freedom” to extract concessions, having threatened ambassador nominees last week to secure a commitment for international AIDS relief funding. He also issued a vague threat that he was only getting started in wielding his newfound power under threat of tanking the White House’s plans.
“You ain’t seen nothing yet,” Cornyn said, per Punchbowl News.
Cornyn joined what The Washington Post called a growing number of GOP “apostates,” Republican lawmakers perfectly poised to undercut the White House’s agenda after having been ousted by Trump-backed opponents.
“They now have nothing to lose if they stand up against him,” the Post’s Karen Tumulty previously wrote of the growing list of ousted GOP lawmakers burned by Trump, which includes Cornyn, Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) and Sens. Thom Tillis (R-NC) and Bill Cassidy (R-LA).
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