Tipsheet

RINO Thom Tillis Backed Away From Sinking Pete Hegseth's Nomination. Here's Why.

Matt Vespa
Matt Vespa  |  January 24, 2025 4:40 PM

This post has been updated.

Sen. Tillis and Hegseth spoke for two hours today. Tillis said he'd support this nomination, barring any bombshell corroborating evidence. The NBC News hit piece did rankle the squishes, but luckily, Hegseth could calm the North Carolina Republican down.

From the beginning, I have been clear about my position: if President Trump’s nominees were reported favorably out of the relevant committees, I would support their confirmation on the Senate floor absent new material information about their qualifications. Once Pete Hegseth’s nomination was sent to the floor by my colleagues on the Senate Armed Services Committee, I conducted my own due diligence, including asking tough questions of Pete and I appreciated his candor and openness in answering them.

Pete has a unique perspective as a veteran of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and is unquestionably passionate about modernizing our military and supporting the brave patriots like himself who serve our nation. I will support his confirmation and look forward to working with him to rebuild our military and advance President Trump’s peace through strength agenda.

Mr. Tillis, life would be much easier for you if you stopped acting brain-dead on the simplest of votes.  

***Original Post***

Pete Hegseth’s nomination to become our next secretary of defense is now in limbo. This wasn’t going to be an easy confirmation, given the intensity of Democratic opposition and the media smear campaign. Of course, Sens. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and Susan Collins (R-ME), who cave when the going gets tough because they’re spineless moderates, have opposed his confirmation. Hegseth advanced to the Senate floor from the Armed Services Committee on a 14-13 vote.  

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Cloture was invoked on a 51-49 over. It’s slim, but the nomination was never in danger of forcing Vice President JD Vance to perform his constitutional duty and break a tie in the Senate. Hegseth could only afford three defections. The suicide sisters in Collins and Murkowski might have a new member: Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) (via WSJ): 

Even President Trump isn’t sure if Pete Hegseth, his unconventional pick to lead the Pentagon, can squeak through what Republican lawmakers now expect to be an extremely close confirmation vote Friday night in the GOP-controlled Senate.

“I don’t know what’s going to happen,” Trump said as he left the White House Friday morning for a trip to North Carolina and California. “You never know with those things. But Pete’s a very, very good man. I hope he makes it. I hope he makes it.” 

[…]

Other than Collins and Murkowski, who are on the record as “no” votes, and McConnell, whose position is unknown, nearly all other Republican senators have said they plan to vote yes on Friday. One exception is Sen. Thom Tillis (R., N.C.), who said Thursday night that he was still “completing due diligence” on the latest allegations against Hegseth, which surfaced earlier this week in a sworn statement from Hegseth’s former sister-in-law, Danielle Hegseth. 

Tillis, who is up for re-election next year, has long been a presumptive yes on Hegseth, but after the emergence of Danielle Hegseth’s statement, he said he is open to new information “until the final vote.” 

Senate Republicans are now concerned about Tillis, a person familiar with the matter said Friday afternoon. The Trump team also is most worried about Tillis, because he could potentially be the fourth “no” if Collins, Murkowski and McConnell all vote no, another person said.

Asked Friday afternoon if he was certain that Tillis would vote “yes,” Senate Republican Whip John Barrasso (R., Wyo.) demurred. “We’re continuing to work on the process,” said Barrasso, whose job it is to count votes in the Senate GOP.

Townhall tried to contact Sen. Tillis’ office multiple times and could not speak with anyone. 

If true, and Tillis backtracked, what a betrayal if I ever saw one, but that’s Washington, huh: 

Tillis said he was a ‘yes’ unless corroborating evidence was discovered regarding the allegations lobbed against the secretary of defense-designate.  

What changed? We don’t know because a code of silence has befallen the office of the North Carolina Republican. 

Voting on the nomination begins at 9pm