A measure of how stupid Trump’s just created $1.8 BILLION dollar (you know that number will go up if Trump gets his way) was that right off the bat some Republicans on Capitol Hill expressed “concerns”. Most just whenever possible made like Josh Hawley on Jan. 6 and ran for their lives if they spotted reporters. However GOP Senators had Todd Blanch join their weekly caucus and let’s just say he wound up wishing he’d found any excuse, no matter how lame to NOT show up.
I’m sure Blanche likely felt invincible on his way to the Hill. Hell, Donald Trump had given him full Presidential Pardon powers – an expanded version that unlike what’s allowed in the Constitution gives Presidents authority to hand out cash to people they pardon. As anyone reading this knows the reaction to the slush fund (Team Trump calls it some kind of victim compensation for victims of DOJ ‘weaponization’) started out strong and widespread. There might have been one or two legislators who spoke in favor of it but most tried to avoid saying anything at all. No doubt they hoped the initial reaction would cause Trump to do one of his ‘just kidding’ pronouncements but nope. The next day Trump, via Blanche doubled down with a breathtaking tax amnesty for Trump spanning his entire life. AND his evil spawn and I think a few other folks!
That so many GOPers ran from cameras and then used the upcoming Memorial Day recess to get out of town (away from national news outlets) Blanche as I said figured he could placate the GOP conference. Or, if that didn’t do the trick give them a beat down ‘in the name of Trump.’ Well, as The Hill Reports things didn’t go quite that way. In fact, Blanche was the one who took a whipping. A serious beat-down which makes sense since it was Senators taking him to task. Even with all the gerrymandering Republicans will lose the House in November. Senate Republicans are pissed that Trump’s antic have put THEIR chamber in play and what Blanch announced early in the week makes their job of keeping control a lot harder.
Incredibly they not only took out their anger on Blanche but leaked news of what had gone down. Ted Cruz of all people didn’t just leak to reporters, he spoke openly on a podcast, characterizing his colleagues part of things as “fireworks at an epic level.” Wow. Cruz had plenty more to say as he characterized his surprise at the outpouring of anger and frustration directed at Blanche:
“There were fireworks at an epic level, and I got to say it’s one of the roughest meetings that I’ve seen in my entire time in the Senate. There were a lot of Republican senators who were just pissed,” Cruz said on his podcast “Verdict with Ted Cruz.”
The Texas senator said there are several GOP senators “who are just really, really unhappy,” such as Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), who lost his bid to win a third Senate term after President Trump endorsed his primary challenger, Rep. Julia Letlow (R-La.). Cassidy finished third in the Louisiana Senate GOP primary, missing the runoff.
Cruz wasn’t done naming names either. He brought up North Carolina’s Thom Tillis (who chose to retire rather than run for re-election this fall) as being ‘pretty chippy.’ He also made note of John Cornyn who is in an electoral death struggle with Ken Paxton of Texas as the two of them face a runoff. Trump has endorsed Paxton and perhaps Cornyn has internal polling telling him he’s toast and like Tillis feels freed up now? Kentucky’s Rand Paul was also cited, with mention Paul brought up what Trump did to get Representative Thomas Massie primaried out of office. Cruz went on to add:
Cruz said Trump’s alienation of the four GOP senators — not even counting moderate Republican Sens. Susan Collins (Maine) and Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) — could make it tougher to pass the president’s agenda through the Senate for the rest of this year.
“We have a 53-47 majority, if you lose four senators, you’re below 50 and you can’t get anything done,” he warned. “That is going to be a complicating factor for the rest of the year.
“Those four senators, I don’t envision suddenly anything becoming hunky dory and they’re being happy. Like that dynamic for 2026, the rest of the year, we’re going to have interesting challenges.”
Senate Majority Leader John Thune didn’t get any real mention but he’s not happy either. He’s looking at an increased possibility of changing titles – from Majority Leader to Minority Leader when the new Congress is sworn in next January. And that friends is the unspoken by Cruz element that explains the vitriol heaped on Blanche. It’s not just how much more difficult it will as Cruz noted be to pass stuff Trump wants and keep him off their asses. No, it’s about no longer being in the Majority. Even if Republicans on the Hill manage to kill off the slush fund the anti-GOP campaign ads are already in the works. Just the fact Trump has been so coddled by his Party is a damning indictment of almost all of them.
Things are starting to get interesting. I’m not going to get out over my skis and say the Trump Spell over the GOP is broken. However I don’t think CRUZ would have said all he did without some solid promises from others to have his back. That suggests that although it’s not broken, Trump’s grip on the GOP is weakening every so slightly. The worry some expressed ten or so years ago about how following Trump would lead to the downfall of the GOP is echoing ever louder.
Friends, I know everyone begs you for money. I promise, among all those asking for spare change, we are the smallest and the hardest working. We’re a group of old, disabled people, except for one writer in his mid-50s. The rest of us are in our sixties and seventies, and this is a labor of love. All we’re asking for is the chance to keep telling the truth about Trump and help ensure democracy survives. If you can help, please do. Thank you. Ursula
