Outgoing Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) now states that he regrets voting for Pete Hegseth’s confirmation as Secretary of War. Tillis, another Republican who earned the ire of the Trump White House, opted not to run for re-election when the president threatened to back a primary challenger (via NOTUS):
GOP Rep Thom Tillis says he regrets voting to confirm Secretary of War Pete Hegseth pic.twitter.com/sx44nWoGSg
— HOT SPOT (@HotSpotHotSpot) June 24, 2026
Senator Thom Tillis expressed regret over his deciding vote to confirm Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, pointing to a “sophomoric sort of execution” at the Pentagon.
“He’s just had so many misstarts,” Tillis said on the On NOTUS podcast. “What he’s done with the press corps, his sort of bravado when he goes into NATO meetings, his wanting to change the name to the Department of War.”
“He just doesn’t have the experience,” the North Carolina Republican added.
Hegseth was confirmed in a 51-50 Senate vote after a contentious hearing in January 2025 that included allegations of alcohol abuse and mismanagement at veterans groups, which Tillis said he should have considered before his vote.
“At the end of the day, I deferred when I could not find any second eyewitness corroborated testimony for some of these allegations that came out,” Tillis said. “If I had, I would never have supported him.”
That’s kind of a lie, senator. We know you didn’t support him from the start, and there are reports you were working to block the nomination behind the scenes. A pressure campaign got Tillis back on track, but this ‘I regret supporting Hegseth’ act is nonsense. You never cared for him, man.