The recent court order temporarily blocking Trump’s DOJ weaponization of government funds that are intended to pay off those who committed crimes to help Trump in his effort to overturn the 2020 election was an even bigger deal than first reported.
The temporary order blocking the fund gave members of Congress from both parties who oppose it time to work together to kill it.
While it is true that Congress can’t shut down the already authorized DOJ settlement fund that has been hijacked for Trump’s purposes, there is something else that Congress can do.
Congress can leave the fund in place, but use its power of the purse and budgetary authority to change how much is in the fund and attach conditions on how the money is used.
The idea of attaching conditions to who can receive a payout was the first area of focus, and that still remains a popular option. It could also be the path of least legislative resistance.
The partner to putting restrictions on the fund is to change the amount of funds available.
Trump thinks that he is an all-powerful president, but since his revenge tour has cooked his Senate majority and liberated four Republican senators who can now do whatever they want for the rest of the year, the president’s influence over the Senate is gone.
This all sets up a potentially wild week of rebellion in the Senate.