Senator Thom Tillis to Exit Congress After Breaking with Trump Over Budget Bill
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Republican Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina announced he will not seek re-election in 2026, just one day after voting against former President Donald Trump’s sweeping budget bill. His decision follows public criticism from Trump and deepening fractures within the Republican Party over the direction of national policy.
Tillis, 64, confirmed his exit on Sunday, saying independent voices in Congress have become “an endangered species.” He criticized the current political climate, calling it hostile to compromise and public service.
“Too many elected officials are motivated by pure raw politics who really don’t give a damn about the people they promised to represent on the campaign trail,” Tillis stated in a written release.
On Saturday, he was one of only two Republican senators to vote against advancing Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” a massive spending and tax cut proposal. The bill includes major changes to Medicaid that would impose work requirements and reduce state funding mechanisms used to support the program.
Tillis argued the bill would severely harm vulnerable residents in his home state. “It would result in tens of billions of dollars in lost funding for North Carolina,” he said. “I did my homework on behalf of North Carolinians, and I cannot support this bill in its current form.”
His opposition drew swift rebuke from Trump, who on Sunday referred to Tillis as “a talker and complainer.” The former president also threatened to support a primary challenger in next year’s Senate race. He posted on Truth Social that he would be meeting with “numerous” potential candidates to replace Tillis.
Lara Trump, the president’s daughter-in-law and a North Carolina native, is rumored to be a potential contender for the seat, although she has not made any public comment.
Trump has similarly targeted other Republican lawmakers who opposed the bill. He called Rep. Thomas Massie a “loser” last week and has reportedly instructed advisers to identify primary challengers to both Massie and Senator Rand Paul.
The Congressional Budget Office released an analysis late Saturday projecting that the bill’s Medicaid provisions would lead to nearly 12 million Americans losing healthcare coverage. Supporters of the bill claim the changes will reduce fraud and stabilize the system financially.
Tillis, who began his political career in North Carolina’s state legislature in 2007 and entered the U.S. Senate in 2015, emphasized that he stood by the bipartisan efforts that sometimes drew backlash from his own party.
“Sometimes those bipartisan initiatives got me in trouble with my own party, but I wouldn’t have changed a single one,” he wrote.
With Tillis’ departure, the 2026 Senate race in North Carolina is expected to become a flashpoint in the ongoing struggle over the GOP’s future. The final Senate vote on Trump’s budget bill is expected in the coming days.
