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Todd Blanche is one step closer to becoming the next attorney general of the United States. A contentious confirmation hearing with the Senate Judiciary Committee three weeks ago initially failed to convince enough Republican legislators, specifically Texas’ John Cornyn and North Carolina’s Thom Tillis, that he was fit for the job. These two outgoing lawmakers—whose departures are the result of Donald Trump’s endorsement of opponents—had been the key holdup on Blanche’s promotion over the president’s misbegotten “anti-weaponization fund.” After another two weeks of private meetings and discussions, as well as a threat by Trump to temporarily pull the nomination rather than give in on the slush fund, the acting AG came up with a solution. Blanche committed in writing that the Justice Department would rescind the settlement agreement reached in Trump’s $10 billion lawsuit against the IRS that would have established that $1.7 billion fund. Blanche also made minor tweaks to who in the Trump family would be granted protection from tax audits.

Now, at first glance, this might seem like a significant concession on behalf of the administration. The anti-weaponization fund would have handed out billions of taxpayer dollars to the president’s supporters and associates who claimed they were targets of political prosecution. The even bigger benefit was that Trump, his family, and his business would be shielded from past IRS audits, estimated at over $100 million. Blanche’s negotiation with Republican senators purportedly guts the fund, while limiting IRS review to Trump, two of his sons, and the Trump Organization.

Both Tillis and Cornyn put out statements confirming their satisfaction with Blanche’s written commitment, and on Tuesday the committee voted 12–10 along party lines to send his nomination to the full Senate for consideration. However, upon further inspection, it’s not clear that any of this is legally binding, and Blanche himself admitted as much during his hearing last month. Trump’s attorneys “could try to enforce the contract,” he said. “They can’t force the Department of Justice to move forward with the weaponization fund. They could potentially say, I suppose, that we breached [the contract] by not moving forward.”

When Trump filed the IRS lawsuit, Blanche, who was representing the federal government against his boss, came up with the controversial settlement agreement—it prompted a judge to reopen the case, litigation for which is still ongoing. Both parties agreed to it. But now Blanche has simply........

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