For the first time in a long time, conservatives are taking self-governance seriously — and, as expected, the GOP establishment is not happy about it.
Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C. — who is running for reelection in 2026 — appeared on “Fox News Sunday” yesterday to throw a temper tantrum about the ongoing conservative pressure campaign to confirm President-elect Donald Trump’s cabinet picks. While Tillis has espoused support for several of these nominees, the Tar Heel State’s senior senator expressed dissatisfaction with voter demands that senators confirm these individuals backed by the largest GOP presidential vote tally in American history.
The North Carolina Republican claimed “a lot” of the pressure campaign was coming from “third parties that are making money” off such efforts, and told those supportive of Trump’s nominees to “stand down and let the nominees win on their own merits.”
“I think most of them will,” Tillis said. “President Trump had a good experience … in his first term as president in terms of enjoying the support of Republicans; he should expect it again.”
Tillis then issued a veiled threat that continued pressure on GOP senators to confirm Trump’s picks could prompt Republicans to side with Democrats in tanking their nominations.
“If people want to play the outside game, then they run a lot of risk. Four votes are all it’s gonna take to kill a nomination here, so they should take pause; do the work; build a compelling case,” Tillis said. “Members are not really swayed by these [campaigns]. If anything, they could create a structural problem for future nominees if they overreach.”
Tillis was then asked about threats to primary Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, over her unwillingness to commit to Pete Hegseth’s nomination as defense secretary. Multiple sources told The Federalist earlier this month that Ernst was leading a behind-the-scenes campaign to oust Hegseth, which included calling Trump and enlisting Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., to lobby Trump to replace Hegseth with Ernst.
After facing conservative blowback, both Ernst and Graham have changed their tune on Hegseth to be more positive. Yet Tillis vehemently defended Ernst’s refusal to commit to backing Hegseth and decried those seeking to oust her for refusing to act on behalf of her constituents.
“Anyone who wants to challenge her in a primary for being thoughtful needs to be held accountable for that sort of garbage,” Tillis said. “…Joni asking questions and appearing to be objective with Pete is just fine with me. … These folks who are making primary challenges, running ads — they seem more like political opportunists [to] me than thoughtful members of the Republican Party.”
[READ: GOP Sen. Todd Young Invites A Primary Challenge By Refusing To Back Hegseth]
Tillis’ willingness to run defense for the GOP failing its own voters is hardly surprising. The North Carolina senator has repeatedly betrayed conservative causes throughout his Senate career. Tillis seemingly sided with Democrats to confirm radical Biden appointees such as Attorney General Merrick Garland and Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
In summer 2022, the North Carolina senator was one of 14 Republicans to help Senate Democrats pass radical gun control legislation. As my colleague Jordan Boyd reported, the bill included “vague language” about “dating partners” and red flag laws, “which allow law enforcement to temporarily confiscate guns from someone the government deems a danger to the public or themselves,” and can “be easily exploited by partisan bureaucrats.”
Later that same year, Tillis again sided with Democrats by voting for the deceptively named “Respect for Marriage Act.” The measure effectively opened up the legal system to abuse by left-wing LGBT activists to harass Christians and other religious Americans who uphold an accurate meaning of marriage. In June 2023, the North Carolina Republican Party censured Tillis over his support for the two aforementioned bills.
In December 2022 — a month before Republicans took control of the House of Representatives — Tillis was working behind the scenes with Democrat-caucusing Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, I-Ariz., on an “immigration reform” bill that included amnesty for millions of illegal aliens. Fortunately, for those who care about America’s borders and the rule of law, the measure never passed.
Yet Tillis has taken a strong interest in protecting the borders of foreign nations, specifically Ukraine. North Carolina’s senior senator has voted for numerous bills authorizing the shipment of U.S. taxpayer money to Kyiv. He’s even gone out of his way to insult the intelligence of GOP voters who oppose such nonsensical policies.
“Our base cannot possibly know what’s at stake at the level that any well-briefed U.S. senator should know about what’s at stake if [Vladimir] Putin wins,” Tillis told reporters in February 2024.
Tillis notably opposed an amendment introduced by Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., last year that sought to create a special inspector general to oversee U.S. funds given to Ukraine.
Within the past two congressional sessions, the North Carolina Republican supported several bloated spending bills, including a measure suspending the federal debt ceiling until 2025. He also supported several legislative priorities spearheaded by the Biden administration, including a $1 trillion “infrastructure” package and the CHIPS Act.
[RELATED: By Backing Establishment Candidates, Trump Hurts His Voters And The ‘America First’ Agenda]
A deeper dive into Tillis’ record reveals further betrayals of GOP voters. Much like Ernst, Tillis has supported allowing transgender individuals to work in the military, a policy defense specialists and analyses have determined seriously damages military readiness.
In 2017, the North Carolina senator criticized Trump’s decision to prohibit such individuals from the service, reportedly saying in a statement, “I would have significant objections to any proposal that calls for a specific group of American patriots currently serving in uniform to be removed from the military.”
Also similar to Ernst, Tillis has backed efforts to make women eligible for the draft.
Tillis’ arrogance in lecturing conservatives rightly angered by the Senate GOP’s handwringing over Trump’s cabinet picks is hardly an anomaly among “red state” Republicans. Like many of his GOP colleagues, the North Carolina senator has grown accustomed to taunting his base because he believes many Republican voters won’t make the effort to primary establishment figures like him from office.
Until conservatives make a serious effort to show status quo Republicans like Tillis the door, the Senate GOP will continue to be nothing more than a cog in the D.C. machine.
Shawn Fleetwood is a staff writer for The Federalist and a graduate of the University of Mary Washington. He previously served as a state content writer for Convention of States Action and his work has been featured in numerous outlets, including RealClearPolitics, RealClearHealth, and Conservative Review. Follow him on Twitter @ShawnFleetwood
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