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We at all times like a little bit of good democracy information — such information being in general brief provide — and performing Legal professional Normal Todd Blanche appeared to ship some final night time.
Blanche is at present jockeying for the everlasting AG gig, which might put him in control of the Justice Division. However his affirmation course of stalled over bipartisan objections to President Donald Trump’s “anti-weaponization fund,” a $1.8 billion reparation program for individuals who claimed the federal government had wronged them.
On Sunday, in acknowledgement of these objections, Blanche confirmed in writing that the Justice Division had rescinded the fund and had no plans to revive it. It’s a uncommon reminder that the Senate’s affirmation energy can nonetheless constrain the White Home, even when many Republican lawmakers would reasonably not rock the boat. And the presidential boat was very a lot rocked by the dustup over Blanche’s affirmation.
In a submit on Saturday, Trump insisted that he’d get some model of the fund even over senators’ objections. And on Monday, he informed reporters that he didn’t log out on the rescission. Notably, the 2 Republicans who compelled that give up — North Carolina’s Thom Tillis and Texas’s John Cornyn — will each depart the Senate in early 2027.
All of the president’s slush funds
The anti-weaponization fund is simply the most recent of Trump’s makes an attempt to siphon federal cash into an account that he or his allies management. In reality, the hunt to safe such a slush fund is a defining characteristic of his presidency — and a number of other of his earlier, much less egregious makes an attempt have been extra profitable. These embrace:
“The long-term danger isn’t just that Trump may be doing one thing unlawful,” Tad DeHaven, a coverage analyst with the Cato Institute, wrote for Vox earlier this yr. “The long-term danger is that his presidency is normalizing treating the receipt and disbursement of cash as devices of private energy.”
➨ Happiness is overrated. In a brand new e-book, the creator Ian Bogost argues we should always as an alternative pursue sensory gratification: the straightforward and quick pleasure present in bodily experiences, whether or not altering gears in a stick-shift automotive or holding a heat mug in your fingers.
