I’m not an opponent of tax cuts, and I tend to believe that tax relief can help any number of Americans. But it’s not lost on anyone that among the beneficiaries are large corporations and wealthy Americans—many of whom have hired expensive lobbyists to get this bill passed. Once signed into law, the Republican tax cut plan will give billions of dollars back to nearly every member and supporter of the GOP establishment. To D.C. Republicans, that’s well worth enduring a crazy tweet every now and again, or mouthing support for a wall that will never be built, or nodding agreement about a trade war that will never come to pass, or even standing witness to scary games of one-upmanship with crazy dictators. That’s why every corporate special interest in Washington, every lobbyist and nearly every consultant is holding their fire, and their breath, in the era of Trump. They want to get their piece of the tax cut pie, and getting in fights with the president would only be a harmful distraction.

But once Trump signs that bill, he faces his greatest danger: Republicans will finally have an achievement to run on as they seek reelection in 2018. Their donors and supporters will have a prize that eluded them through eight years of Obama, who reversed the Bush-era tax cuts and made them feel like Scrooges who wrecked the global economy. Simply put, they won’t need the president anymore. After that, the investigative team assembled by special counsel Robert Mueller can do its worst. Mueller would actually be doing GOP leaders a favor.