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Texas senator betrayed by Trump slammed for giving shocking reason why Congress can’t stop president
Texas Sen. John Cornyn is spurring outrage after he claimed Congress can’t “rein in” President Donald Trump.
Cornyn, a Republican snubbed by Trump in favor of endorsing GOP primary rival Ken Paxton, briefly held out on supporting Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche’s nomination to lead the Justice Department in a permanent capacity.
Cornyn and fellow GOP holdout Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina voted Tuesday to advance Blanche’s nomination out of the Senate Judiciary Committee after the Justice Department confirmed in writing that it wasn’t moving forward with a $1.8 billion fund to compensate Trump allies who believe they were prosecuted for political purposes, which the administration announced as part of the settlement, the Associated Press reported.
Despite the agreement, Trump has said that he would like to compensate his allies.
Asked by a reporter if that concerned him, Cornyn responded: “Well, there’s nothing we could do to rein in the president when he said he likes the fund and he wishes it still exists, but the fact of the matter [is] it’s dead, and that’s all we could do under the circumstances.”
Cornyn’s response created a firestorm of controversy; critics labeled him a coward.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom sounded the alarm over Cornyn’s comments.
“Congress is dead. MAGA has a king. Republicans killed the Constitution,” Newsom tweeted. “If [Democrats] don’t win in November, democracy in America is over.”
“If the Democrats don’t run this s--- as an ad from now until 2028,” added liberal influencer Joanne Carducci, “they don’t deserve to win.”
Joe Walsh, a former Republican congressman-turned-Trump critic, said Cornyn’s explanation encapsulated “the utterly weak and feckless Republican Party, in a nutshell.”
“Being a United States Senator under our Constitution used to mean something. Presidents once had to reckon with senators. Now so many of them bow and scrape and mask their authentic beliefs and run away from reporters, pleading powerlessness in the face of open corruption,” posted independent journalist Terry Moran.