Texas Sen. John Cornyn is at the center of negotiations that delayed a key committee vote on President Donald Trump’s choice for attorney general. On Thursday afternoon, Trump wrote online that he may change course by delaying the nomination of his personal attorney, Todd Blanche, until after C ornyn and North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis leave office. The move came after Cornyn and Tillis declined to support Blanche in a key committee vote. At the heart of the dispute is a controversial agreement that Cornyn wants the Trump administration to abandon. Earlier, Trump settled a lawsuit involving his own Justice Department, creating a $1.8 billion fund to compensate people he believes were wrongly investigated. The agreement also provides the president, his family and their businesses protection from future IRS audits. Cornyn told NBC 5: “We want to make sure that it remains dead and that the President isn’t given any immunity from future audits that the ordinary taxpayer would not enjoy.” “It causes me concern that they don’t want to put it in writing that this is not something that’s going to be enforceable in the long-term. Because as you know, people can change their mind later on,” Cornyn said. The standoff is not the first time Cornyn has used his influence in the Senate to advance his priorities. Earlier, he held up two Trump ambassador nominations while seeking assurances that the Trump administration would continue funding former President George W. Bush’s signature global AIDS initiative, PEPFAR. SMU political science professor Matthew Wilson said Cornyn’s political circumstances have given him more freedom to challenge the administration when he sees fit. “John Cornyn’s essentially involuntary retirement has given him a lot more latitude and a lot more freedom to act and vote his conscience,” Wilson said. Wilson said that change stems from Trump’s endorsement of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who defeated Cornyn in the Republican primary in May, effectively ending Cornyn’s Senate career. “He’s not gonna be bucking the president left and right. But when he thinks that the president is exercising poor judgment, or when he thinks that he can win support for an important priority of his, I think he’s gonna do it,” Wilson said. Wilson said the situation also reflects a more traditional role for the Senate, with Cornyn acting as a check on presidential power. This story was originally reported for broadcast by NBC DFW. AI tools helped convert the story into a digital article, and an NBC DFW journalist edited it again before publication. ...read more read less