Why It Matters

Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) had a full week, from cheering on a North Carolina Little League champion to casting a contested confirmation vote and drawing scrutiny over a forthcoming book that critics say contradicts his actions on the Senate floor.

The retiring North Carolina senator made headlines on multiple fronts: co-sponsoring bipartisan legislation to protect Afghan allies' service records, voting to confirm Todd Blanche as attorney general after securing written concessions from the nominee, and publicly criticizing Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth over access to classified defense budget briefings.

What They're Talking About

Afghan allies and military service records. On Aug. 10, Tillis joined Sens. Mike Rounds (R-SD), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), and Chris Coons (D-DE) in introducing the Afghan Ally Records and Credential Heritage (ARCH) Act, which would require the Department of War (DOW) to establish a secure process to identify, verify, and preserve service records of Afghan allies who fought alongside U.S. forces between 2001 and 2021. The bill is directly relevant to North Carolina, which is home to major military installations and a large veteran population.

"We owe it to our Afghan allies to provide a fair and efficient process to preserve the service records documenting the sacrifices they made while serving alongside U.S. forces," Tillis said. "I'm proud to cosponsor this effort to ensure those records are available for those who stood with our servicemembers in Afghanistan."

The Blanche confirmation and defense budget access. Tillis and Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) held up the Judiciary Committee vote on attorney general nominee Todd Blanche, demanding written assurances that a $1.8 billion fund set up to compensate political allies prosecuted during the Biden Administration would not move forward. After Blanche provided those assurances in writing, Tillis voted to confirm him in an overnight Senate vote before sunrise on Aug. 8.

Separately, Tillis was among Senate Republicans who criticized Hegseth for excluding Democrats from classified briefings on a proposed $1.5 trillion military budget increase. Tillis was quoted directly by Politico: "He calls himself the secretary of war, but ironically, he doesn't want to go to war and win the argument with nearly half the members of the Senate."

In the News

The Raleigh News & Observer reported this week that Tillis has a forthcoming book titled How to Lose Friends and Antagonize Presidents, published by HarperCollins, in which the publisher's description says Tillis pulls "no punches" about "the sycophants surrounding President Trump, spineless Republican yes-men (and -women), and the weirdos of the MAGA world." A subsequent News & Observer opinion piece argued that Tillis is "pretending to be the hero he isn't," pointing to his Blanche vote as evidence of contradicting his own book's message.

Tillis also drew attention for disclosing that, after selling his Washington, D.C. condo in March, he has been renting a carriage house on Mitch McConnell's property, per Political Wire. He plans to remain there until his Senate term ends at the close of 2026.

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