COPENHAGEN, Denmark — In his 348 days left in office — yes, he’s counting — Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) could end up becoming the biggest headache for Senate GOP leaders and the White House.
The North Carolina Republican is the deciding vote on all four of his committees, having exercised that leverage a few times already since announcing last year that he won’t seek reelection, including most recently with Federal Reserve nominees.
During an hour-long interview over Danish smørrebrød, Tillis said President Donald Trump’s push to grab control of Greenland — and use tariffs to punish allies who oppose the effort — is likely to be his next target.
“It’s about to come out on a grand scale,” said Tillis, who’s in Davos this week. “The straws are dropping on the proverbial camel’s back.”
While Tillis hasn’t yet decided what he’ll target or how, he’s teasing a much more expansive effort. In addition to blocking certain nominees in committee, Tillis noted he could also derail packages of nominees on the floor by demanding individual roll-call votes.
Tillis said he could also withhold his votes on the floor and, if a few others join him, grind the chamber to a halt.
We sat down with Tillis shortly after he and other lawmakers participated in a wreath-laying ceremony at a memorial for Danish troops, who died in battle, including on the United States’ behalf in Iraq and Afghanistan. Tillis got especially emotional and told us that Trump’s threats amount to the “betrayal of a friend.”
For these lawmakers, the trip was a reminder of how Congress has ceded so much of its authority to the executive branch that it’s become difficult to actually reassure U.S. allies of lawmakers’ ability to rein in the president.
“Even though you’ve given certain authorities away, that doesn’t mean that with the right cooperation, the Article I branch still can’t be as assertive,” said Tillis. “It just requires people to come out of the shadows.”
‘Balls and strikes.’ The liberated Tillis is already blocking Department of Homeland Security nominees over Secretary Kristi Noem’s months-long refusal to testify before the Judiciary Committee. Tillis has also vowed to block Fed nominees in the Banking Committee amid DOJ’s targeting of Fed Chair Jay Powell.
Last year, Tillis’ similar tactics helped secure federal recognition of the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina. Tillis called this “a really good test case” for the Greenland issue.
And despite the heartburn his most recent — and future — blockades are causing for Senate GOP leaders, Tillis is convinced he’ll actually be helping rank-and-file Republicans get through a midterm year he sees as trending negatively for his party.
Of course, this is much easier for Tillis to argue now that he’s not running again, a dynamic he says allows him to “call balls and strikes” during his final months in office.
Tillis didn’t threaten nominations on this scale before announcing he wasn’t running, and he’s backed Trump on most major policies, including war powers. One notable exception is the One Big Beautiful Bill, which Tillis shredded over its hundred of billions of dollars in Medicaid cuts.
“I’m not cranky,” Tillis quipped of this new era for him. “I’m just focused.”
Tillis predicted more Republicans will speak up against Trump as a survival technique in the general election once their primaries are over or filing deadlines have passed.
Flashing some independence from Trump is especially important, Tillis argued, given Trump’s penchant for “enabling” Democrats — noting the president’s role in the GOP’s Georgia debacle in 2020-2021, as well as his recent attack on blue-state Republicans like Sen. Susan Collins (Maine).
“The quality of the returning class could dramatically decline if we don’t assert ourselves, look like we’re leading, and be good stewards of an independent branch,” Tillis warned.
