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Happy Tuesday morning.

EL PASO, Texas – The Senate Republican leadership has a new member.

Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has named Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) as a counselor on his leadership team for the 118th Congress.

The addition of Tillis comes after the North Carolina Republican stood out as a common denominator in the chamber’s bipartisan accomplishments over the past two years. From infrastructure to gun safety to same-sex marriage, Tillis was either the lead Republican or a crucial player in the negotiations.

We chatted with Tillis about all of this during a CODEL to the U.S.-Mexico border last week, where he finds himself at the center of talks on yet another, if lofty, bipartisan goal: coming up with immigration reform and border security legislation.

The record-breaking 50-50 split last Congress gave senators such as Tillis a unique opportunity to gain influence in the chamber. And the 117th Congress was historically productive, in no small part due to the willingness of several Republican senators to help Democrats overcome GOP filibusters and advance measures that are among President Joe Biden’s hallmark achievements during his first two years in office.

“It’s not like I haven’t gone through this thought process in the prior three Congresses. There were just not as many opportunities. There were some,” Tillis said in an interview. “But nothing compared to this particular Congress.”

Tillis was first elected to the Senate in 2014 after having served as speaker of the North Carolina House of Representatives. Republicans controlled the upper chamber during his entire first term in the Senate.

Tillis gained prominence when he worked with Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.) on legislation to protect special counsel Robert Mueller. He was later admonished by Democrats for flipping his position on former President Donald Trump’s emergency declaration on using non-related funding for the southern border wall.

Tillis narrowly won re-election in 2020 against Democrat Cal Cunningham. Cunningham was leading the polls until just weeks before the election when it was revealed that he had an extramarital affair.

That campaign was particularly brutal, but Tillis and Cunningham have since become friends and even did an event together last year focused on bipartisan cooperation.

The 2020 race was something of a transition period for Tillis, who has emerged as a bridge between the two parties, as well as between the competing factions inside the GOP.

“I don’t like getting involved in things where I can’t see a path to a successful outcome,” Tillis said. “And there happened to be that combination of chemistry, issues — so I use that as an opportunity. But it’s not some sort of revelation that I became some sort of somebody I’m not. It’s actually a continuation of something I started when I was in the minority in the state house.”

Tillis’ posture is the type that would typically enrage conservatives, many of whom have slammed Senate GOP leaders for helping Democrats get so many big agenda items over the finish line — even if the outcome was something both parties could cheer. And McConnell’s decision to appoint Tillis to his leadership team shows the GOP leader isn’t bowing to Republican critics who’ve expressed frustration with his leadership style.

On the bipartisan legislation he’s helped shepherd through the chamber, Tillis explained that it’s transactional.

“I think a lot of people get so caught up in the moment,” Tillis said. “Just realize these are transactions. I care about people, I build relationships with people, and then I take positions on transactions.”

Tillis has formed a close friendship with Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), a dealmaker in his own right but also a fiercely loyal Democrat. The pair became close last year while traveling to the Western Balkans on a CODEL. Just days later, they began negotiating what became one of the 50-50 Senate’s biggest accomplishments: the gun safety bill.

In an interview in El Paso, Murphy described Tillis as a “really credible broker” because he’s always “honest about how far he’s willing to go and how far he’s not willing to go.” During the gun control talks, Murphy said, “several times [Tillis] put the brakes” on elements that he wanted to include in the legislation.

It’s all the more reason why Tillis’ central role in the immigration talks is lending optimism to those pushing to clinch a Senate deal. Democrats see Tillis as someone who shows his cards and sits in the middle of the GOP conference, allowing him to work both ends of the party on big votes.

The big questions at this point, though, are whether a GOP-run House would take up any Senate immigration deal. And Senate Democrats face a brutal map in 2024 – a presidential election year – so how long can bipartisan dealmaking continue in that chamber?

— Andrew Desiderio

TODAY: Join us at 5 p.m. ET at the Capital Hilton for our interview with Durham, N.C. Mayor Elaine O’Neal (D). We’ll be talking to her about big issues facing local government and what can happen at the local level when there is a divided Congress. The conversation will be followed by a reception with drinks and light bites. RSVP here!

We’re proud to be a media partner of the U.S. Conference of Mayors’ 91st Winter Meeting this year. Don’t miss our coverage of it starting Wednesday!

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