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Finally, some decent economic news. The May jobs numbers are in, and the economy added 172,000 nonfarm payroll jobs. That exceeded the market’s expectations. What may be most remarkable is that only 47,000 of those 172,000 were in health care and social assistance—the two sectors that had been basically propping up our economy. But it’s not all bright lights and gravy. The war in Iran isn’t over—feeding fears of coming inflation. And now we have New World screwworm detected in cattle in Texas, likely spiking beef prices before the summer break. Why can’t we just have nice things? Happy Friday.
Join Catherine Rampell and Sam Stein for Receipts Live on Substack and YouTube today at noon EDT.
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They Are Who We Thought They Were
by William Saletan
On Thursday, Republican senators had a chance to kill Donald Trump’s $1.8 billion slush fund for professed victims of “weaponization” by the Department of Justice. They refused. A Democratic amendment to block the fund, as part of an immigration-enforcement spending bill, failed in the Senate. Subsequent attempts to limit or outlaw the fund failed as well.
Republicans seem to think they can walk away from this issue because Todd Blanche, the acting attorney general, has said he won’t implement the fund. They’re wrong. Blanche’s corrupt deal with Trump, in which he agreed to set up the fund as part of a fake “settlement” of a Trump lawsuit against the IRS, remains intact. And it’s not just the slush fund that is very much alive. The deal also continues to guarantee—and Blanche has refused to withdraw—immunity for Trump and his family against any investigations by the IRS.
DOJ revealed the immunity guarantee on May 19, a day after it announced the slush fund. Under the pretense of settling Trump’s suit, Blanche issued an order that insulated Trump and his family from tax enforcement:
The United States RELEASES, WAIVES, ACQUITS, and FOREVER DISCHARGES each of the Plaintiffs from, and is hereby FOREVER BARRED and PRECLUDED from prosecuting or pursuing, any and all claims, counterclaims, causes of action, appeals, or requests for any relief, including injunctive relief, monetary relief, damages, examinations, or similar or related reviews, appeals, debt relief, costs, attorney’s fees, expenses, and/or interest, whether presently known or unknown that . . . have been or could have been asserted by Defendants against any of the Plaintiffs.
Blanche extended this immunity to Trump’s family members, “trusts, parent, sister, or related companies, affiliates, and subsidiaries.” It covered “any matters that were raised or could have been raised” in the Trump family’s legal battles with the IRS. The order could save Trump more than $100 million in known tax obligations the IRS might otherwise have recovered. And that’s not counting whatever else he and his family are hiding.
The deal was unprecedented and corrupt in numerous ways. Among them:
It shielded Trump from audits based on a lawsuit that wasn’t about audits. (Trump sued because his returns were leaked by a contractor, not by the IRS.)
In so doing, it violated DOJ policy that settlements must be limited to germane matters.
It selectively yielded to Trump while DOJ fought lawsuits by other parties regarding the same leaks.
It violated a law that bars the IRS from withdrawing audits at the president’s direction.
It overrode civil servants in the IRS who had written a long memo outlining arguments for challenging Trump’s lawsuit.
It bypassed judicial scrutiny by inventing a phony “settlement” that took the case out of court.
It evaded a judicial order that had instructed Trump and DOJ to show that they were adversaries, not colluding partners.
Nobody from DOJ bothered to challenge Trump’s suit or even show up in court.
As Trump’s personal attorney, Blanche was handsomely paid. In 2023 and 2024, his firm got more than $9 million from a pro-Trump PAC.
In one respect, the immunity order was even more corrupt than the slush fund: The slush fund didn’t extend to Trump and his family. The immunity order did. That difference has turned out to be pivotal. When Republican senators signaled that they opposed the slush fund, the DOJ said it would be willing to drop it. But not the immunity order. That was never taken off the table. In fact, Blanche made clear when testifying before a House Appropriations subcommittee that the immunity order would not be dropped.
Under questioning from Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.), he claimed that the order was normal procedure. “Anytime the IRS settles with an individual taxpayer or another company, as part of the settlement, it’s standard,” he said.
He was lying. As a matter of IRS and DOJ policy, Blanche’s deal with Trump was grossly abnormal. But as a matter of Trumpian morality, Blanche’s compromise—publicly dumping the slush fund while keeping the immunity order—was standard operating procedure. Trump did what he always does: He screwed other people and protected himself.