(The Center Square) – Should Todd Blanche gain approval to be attorney general from the U.S. Senate, and the nearly $1.8 billion anti-weaponization fund never materialize for use, count another win for Republican U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis.
Hardly lame duck since sharing plans 13 months ago he would not seek reelection, the fire within him that fueled a rise through leadership at the North Carolina General Assembly was teamed with Texas Republican Sen. John Cornyn in this latest battle. The senators had what all three called “good faith” negotiations about the money that could go to people involved Jan. 6, 2021, at the U.S. Capitol.
Tillis and Cornyn on Monday in a joint statement said, ““From the outset, we were clear that we needed a written document addressing our concerns on the IRS audit agreement and the anti-weaponization fund that included constraining the scope of audit protection by limiting it to the parties of the Settlement Agreement and legally ending the anti-weaponization fund.
“We are pleased that the Department of Justice has issued a formal order terminating the anti-weaponization fund. Additionally, the department has acknowledged in a binding written order that the audit settlement is limited to the plaintiffs, and the scope does not extend beyond the defendants in the lawsuit, the IRS and the Treasury, addressing concerns that multiple of our Republican colleagues share.
“We want to express our gratitude to Mr. Blanche and his staff for working with us on this, and we look forward to voting to advance his nomination out of the Senate Judiciary Committee soon.”
It was June of last year when Trump was moving the One Big Beautiful Bill Act forward, and Tillis protested the reconciliation bill over the projected $32 billion cost of Medicaid falling to North Carolina’s budget for rural hospitals and communities back home.
For context, Tillis and Trump agreed in principle on reducing healthcare costs. The means to the end was different, and ultimately where Tillis took a stand.
In fact, it was in May that Tillis strongly encouraged senators to pass the bill albeit in what he called “improved” conditions. He said then, “Republicans must extend the Trump tax cuts and pass the president’s agenda.”
Tillis and Republican Sens. Rand Paul of Kentucky and Susan Collins of Maine each rejected the bill ultimately advanced on a tie-breaking vote from Vice President J.D. Vance.
Tillis – at 16 years behind only U.S. Reps. Virginia Foxx and Alama Adams in congressional seniority from North Carolina – was a steadfast no in the Judiciary Committee of the Senate when Ed Martin was Trump’s pick as a U.S. attorney in the District of Columbia. Trump eventually pulled the nomination.
Tillis was an 11th-hour yes when it came to the confirmation of Pete Hegseth to lead the War Department in another vote ultimately decided by Vance.
And then this summer, yet another tiff between the senator and president when Tillis and Trump again had corresponding visions but different routes to the goal on election integrity.
Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act, as its formal name is known, was so much of a “No. 1 priority” by Trump that he shockingly withdrew from signing bipartisan housing affordability legislation in June. Not until, he said, Congress passes the SAVE America Act.
Tillis said it’s an “impossible task” to implement the requirements of the SAVE America Act as now proposed before Nov. 3. Instead, he opined, voters need to know about the “rise of Democratic Socialists of America” and win within existing voting laws.
Sure enough, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., headlined the North Carolina Democratic Party's convention this past weekend. She's a key supporter of a number of candidates tied to the DSA, notably led by New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani.
The SAVE America Act requires proof of citizenship when registering to vote and presentation of a photo identification with casting a ballot.
Tillis has cosponsored a version of the bill. Trump’s wishes have included potential tack-ons to other bills.
Tillis hasn’t wavered.
“If I see a reconciliation bill come from the House with another failed attempt to confuse this election, I will use every device I have available to slow down the wheels of government until people cop a clue and do the math,” Tillis said, nearly shouting, on the Senate floor three weeks ago.
Having helped move North Carolina’s photo voter ID law when he was speaker of the House – he left the General Assembly in 2014 before the work was finished; voters passed it in 2018 and six years of litigation later it was enacted – he has experience on the matter. Implementation, he explained, takes time.
“I have been trying to explain for nearly a year that the SAVE Act, whether it’s the SAVE Act, the SAVE America Act, the new SAVE legislation that’s being proposed in the House, SAVE goes to Hollywood, SAVE goes to Hawaii, whatever the sequels are, all of them are fundamentally flawed and impossible to implement by this election,” Tillis said.
And that, he reasoned, would sully the confidence of voters – something his party did not need at the midterms.
For now, Blanche is on track to get a vote on the Senate floor. Approval is likely.
Tillis has five more months to go. He's begging and pleading for his party to be smart ahead of the midterm elections.
If ever there was nothing lame about a politician with limited time, he's ready for the next round of a fight.
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