Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) said Sunday he will not run again in 2026, a decision that landed less than 24 hours after he crossed President Donald Trump on a marquee tax-and-immigration bill and drew an instant primary threat.
What Happened: Serving in the U.S. Senate has been a “blessing,” the two-term lawmaker, 64, wrote, recalling a rise from making minimum wage and living at a trailer park to Capitol Hill?
Tillis and Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) were the only Republicans to oppose opening debate on Trump’s $4 trillion “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” prompting Trump to vow on Truth Social to meet with “numerous people” eager to oust Tillis in a GOP primary. “Tillis is a talker and complainer, NOT A DOER,” Trump wrote.
The President later hailed Tillis’s exit as “Great News!” to supporters online.
Why It Matters: Trump’s social media outcry initially arrived hours after Tillis declared in a statement that he “cannot support” the president’s spending bill in its current form. Tillis warned that the bill’s anticipated Medicaid cuts would strip North Carolina, including its hospitals and rural communities, of tens of billions of dollars in funding.
The surprise retirement instantly scrambles the 2026 map in a battleground state Trump won narrowly twice. According to a Politico report, Democrats have courted former governor Roy Cooper, while Republicans eye Trump’s daughter-in-law and ally Lara Trump. Tillis’s exit also highlights the peril for GOP moderates who buck Trump. The party previously censured Tillis for backing gun-safety and same-sex marriage deals.
Meanwhile, the Senate will resume work this week on amendments to the bill that spurred Tillis’s break with Trump; passage would return the measure to the House before Independence Day.
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