Latest news with #Tillis
Yahoo
a day ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Sen. Thom Tillis avoids censure at NCGOP convention despite MAGA backlash
Back in 2023, the North Carolina Republican Party censured Sen. Thom Tillis during its annual convention for 'blatant violations' of the party's platform. This year, after Tillis opposed some of President Donald Trump's nominees and policies and MAGA conservatives pushed for a 2026 primary challenger, another censure vote seemed possible. But at the party's convention, which took place from June 5 through Sunday, no such action was taken, signaling a smoother path to re-election for Tillis — at least for now. 'Republicans across the state look forward to a robust primary and the convention shows Republicans are unified to keep our Senate seat to ensure President Trump's agenda has the votes in Congress to continue delivering for the American people,' said NCGOP spokesperson Matt Mercer in a message following the convention, held this year in Greensboro. Mercer said no censure motions were introduced this year. MAGA Republicans have taken issue with Tillis in the past few months for questioning Trump's pick of Pete Hegseth, as Defense secretary, though, Tillis ultimately voted for Hegseth. Tillis told Trump he wouldn't confirm Ed Martin as the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia due to their differing views on the Jan. 6 insurrectionists. Tillis says he has 'no tolerance for anyone who entered' the Capitol on Jan. 6. Tillis is also pushing back on provisions within a more than 1,000-page reconciliation bill that Trump and House Republicans named the 'One Big Beautiful Bill Act.' Chief among Tillis' concerns are 'no tax on tips,' a campaign promise Trump made, and cutting clean energy tax credits. The friction is not new. Since joining the Senate, Tillis has found himself at odds with far-right factions of his party for his willingness to work with Democrats and decisions they've seen as disloyal to Trump. Once widely favored by the party, Tillis' favorability is on shaky ground. Tillis has been a mainstay in North Carolina politics, beginning his political career on local boards in Cornelius before being elected in 2006 to the North Carolina House. There, Tillis worked his way into leadership positions, and served as the House Republican Caucus campaign chairman where he traveled across the state recruiting Republicans to run for office. He is credited with playing a significant role in taking the House majority away from Democrats. Republican House members rewarded him by electing him speaker of the House, where he led the chamber through debates on same-sex marriage, election laws, Medicaid expansion and restructuring the state tax code. By the time he ran against Democratic Sen. Kay Hagan, The New York Times called Tillis 'a favorite among the party establishment.' But that sentiment faded as Tillis found his footing in Congress and established himself as a moderate willing to work with Democrats to get major pieces of legislation passed. That led to Tillis' first censure in 2023, for voting in favor of same-sex marriage and working on the largest piece of gun legislation passed in 30 years. Two years prior, the state party censured then-Sen. Richard Burr, a Winston-Salem Republican, after he voted to impeach President Donald Trump following the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. Tillis, 64, a Huntersville Republican, is running for a third term in 2026. He was first elected in 2014, defeating Hagan, who served one term. And he's one of 53 Republicans helping to hold the party's slim majority in the Senate, over the minority's 47 seats. MAGA conservatives have taken to social media to call for a primary challenger to Tillis in 2026, though no candidate has emerged. Contenders they floated early on included names like former Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson or Lara Trump. She's the president's daughter-in-law, who grew up in North Carolina but resides in Florida and just joined Fox News. Neither seem likely. Don Brown, a retired Navy JAG officer, and Andy Nilsson, a retired businessman, threw their names out to challenge Tillis, but neither have large name recognition. Democrats are waiting to learn whether former Gov. Roy Cooper, who left office in January after being term-limited out, will challenge Tillis. Former Rep. Wiley Nickel, a Democrat from Cary who has a history of winning challenging races but has not yet run statewide, jumped ahead of Cooper and announced he would seek the Democratic nomination. Tillis announced last week he has added big names to his campaign team including three people who served on Trump's reelection campaign: Tony Fabrizio, Tim Saler and Jim McCray. The 2026 election in North Carolina is expected to be the most expensive Senate race in U.S. history, a record Tillis broke twice in his race against Hagan and again in 2020 against attorney Cal Cunningham.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Andy Nilsson files to challenge incumbent Senator Thom Tillis in 2026 midterms
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) — The midterm elections are more than a year away, but candidates are already jockeying for a position. Retired Winston-Salem businessman Andy Nilsson has filed to challenge incumbent Senator Thom Tillis. 'We've got someone who, when he's voting, votes against the president, and doesn't really show up here to explain why or defend himself, it's like we've got a senator who's absent,' Nilsson told Queen City News. Nilsson spoke with Chief Political Correspondent Andy Weber in Greensboro Friday as the state GOP gathered for their annual convention. The odds are against the Republican challenger, as Tillis has already raised several million dollars and brought on staff with ties to the Trump presidential campaign. 'I knew getting into this, that was a big mountain to climb. I knew how big it was. I mean, this is a guy who's been in for 12 years, who's running for 18. He's got a lot of money, he's got a lot of PAC support, but that goes to the center of my argument, that he's out of touch,' insisted Nilsson. Nilsson argued not only is he a better choice over Tillis, but that he also is the right person to face a potential democratic nominee and former North Carolina Governor, Roy Cooper. 'I'm not a typical politician. Everybody that Roy Cooper has run against in however many elections that he run has been a typical, recycled, swamp-dwelling politician, I'm not. I was 30 years in business until I retired and started coaching high school football, now I'm working with special needs kids, that's what I do.' Cooper himself has not announced if he will run. Senator Tillis' campaign did not respond to a request for comment on Nilsson's campaign. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Will Senate Republicans block the climate law rollback?
This analysis and news roundup comes from the Canary Media Weekly newsletter. Sign up to get it every Friday. The Inflation Reduction Act has jump-started hundreds of billions of dollars in clean energy and manufacturing development — and most of its benefits have gone to regions represented in Congress by Republicans. But House Republicans still chose to pass a budget bill two weeks ago that would crush the bustling clean energy sector by rapidly phasing out incentives for making energy-efficient home improvements, buying EVs, and building solar, wind, and battery projects. Now, it's the Republican-controlled Senate's turn to consider the bill. Early signs suggest that at least two GOP senators — John Curtis of Utah and Thom Tillis of North Carolina — are not on board with the aggressive cuts in the current version of the bill. Tillis represents a purple state where clean manufacturing and solar project development has boomed in recent years, Canary Media's Elizabeth Ouzts reported this week. He's since said that he wants to revise the House's cut to IRA production and investment tax credits, as well as a provision that bars companies with ties to China from accessing incentives. Tillis and Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) also said that the Senate is unlikely to stand by the House's provision that would require clean energy projects to start construction within 60 days of bill enactment or miss out on tax credits. Curtis meanwhile authored a Deseret News op-ed on Wednesday diving into the consequences of a total IRA repeal. While he agrees that some IRA provisions included 'frivolous spending,' he warned against treating 'good policy ideas as guilty by political association.' 'The simple truth is this: many of these credits are Republican policies that we fought to protect,' Curtis wrote. 'We must build a thoughtful, principled bill that doesn't pull the rug out from under American innovators.' Other Republican senators have expressed reservations too. Chuck Grassley, who represents wind turbine-dotted Iowa, suggested he'll try to find compromise on extending support for wind power. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana said he may look to change the House's proposed 60-day deadline for accessing tax credits. North Dakota's John Hoeven wants to preserve some incentives for geothermal; Shelley Moore Capito, from West Virginia, would like to keep hydrogen incentives alive. We still have yet to hear from Sen. Jerry Moran of Kansas, who in April penned a letter alongside Sens. Curtis, Murkowski, and Tillis defending IRA tax credits. These public statements in support of some aspects of the Inflation Reduction Act could be read as a signal that the House's 'backdoor repeal' of the landmark climate law will fail at the hands of the Senate. On the other hand, plenty of House Republicans spoke out before the 'Big, Beautiful Bill' passed, too. In fact, nearly two dozen signed a letter opposing IRA cuts in late March. But come time to vote in May, not a single one of those signatories voted against the bill. It passed the House 215-214. Trump's coal-boosting efforts don't make sense The Trump administration keeps trying to prop up fossil-fuel power plants. Experts and regulators say it's an uneconomical and unwise mission. President Donald Trump's coal-boosting endeavors kicked off last month with a slate of executive orders that would let the U.S. Energy Department order power plants to stay open and would exempt some coal plants from air-pollution regulations. Among those facilities targeted for reinstatement is the Cholla coal plant in Arizona, which shut down in March, and which a state energy regulator warned would cost utility customers nearly $2 billion to reopen. In recent weeks, the DOE has ordered a Michigan coal power plant and a Pennsylvania oil and gas facility to stay open just days before their planned retirements. The Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis examined the challenges of keeping the Michigan plant open, noting that its power prices were becoming increasingly uncompetitive and that its owner has already been working for years to replace its generation capacity with renewables and gas. And with coal companies laying off miners across Appalachia, keeping coal alive is only going to become more impractical. Bad news/good news for greener steel A potential deal between Nippon Steel and U.S. Steel, backed by President Trump, would likely be bad news for efforts to clean up steelmaking. A week ago, Trump announced that Japan's Nippon Steel was set to acquire U.S. Steel in a deal whose details are yet to be disclosed. Nippon has previously pledged to extend the life of U.S. Steel's coal-burning furnaces, Alexander C. Kaufman reported for Canary Media this week, and to build a new electric arc furnace in the U.S. should the deal go through. Meanwhile, Massachusetts-based Boston Metal is honing a greener steelmaking process of its own. The start-up is developing a technique that uses electricity to remove contaminants from iron ore, the company told Canary Media's Sarah Shemkus. Refining iron ore is responsible for most of steelmaking's emissions, but in Boston Metal's process, the only greenhouse gas emissions created come from the electricity used to power it. Breakup of the year: President Trump and Elon Musk start a public fight over the congressional budget bill, leading Tesla shares to drop Friday morning and leaving the EV company with few political allies. (E&E News, Associated Press) Fading love for renewables: A Pew Research Center survey finds support for solar and wind power has dropped among both Democrats and Republicans over the past five years. (Floodlight) Can start-ups survive? Cleantech start-ups are 'stress testing' operations to see if they can still move forward after the Trump administration cuts funding for industrial decarbonization and other clean energy projects. (Wall Street Journal) Routing climate research: The White House's campaign to slash National Science Foundation grants has eliminated funding for more than 100 climate-related research projects, with Harvard University hit particularly hard, a new analysis finds. (MIT Technology Review) Data centers skip the line: Texas residents grow frustrated as data center developers begin planning and building their own gas-fired power plants instead of waiting to connect to the grid, affecting nearby neighborhoods and locking in reliance on fossil fuels for decades to come. (Texas Tribune/Inside Climate News) Gas' growing consequences: Gas leaks, which are common in states with aging infrastructure, release hazardous pollutants that can extend far beyond the homes or neighborhoods where they happen and reach neighboring states. (Inside Climate News) Regulatory switcheroo: President Trump nominates attorney Laura Swett to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, who analysts say will likely champion gas infrastructure and fossil fuel projects, in line with the White House's priorities. (E&E News)
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Georgia Senator introduces bipartisan ‘BARK Act' to help animal shelters get supplies, donations
U.S. Sen. Rev. Raphael Warnock is working to pass a bipartisan bill aimed at making it easier for animal shelters to take in pet food and donated supplies. Working with North Carolina U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis, Warnock introduced the Bring Animals Relief and Kibble Act, or the BARK Act. According to the senator's office, the bill encourages giving supplies to shelters by providing liability protections for good-faith donations of pet food and supplies. [DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks] 'Georgia animal shelters around the state are struggling to keep their doors open, we should make it easier for local businesses to donate pet food and supplies,' Warnock said in a statement. 'This common-sense, bipartisan legislation protects good-faith donations, making the donation process easier and less stressful, allowing much needed resources to go to dogs and cats waiting for adoption instead of being thrown away.' The bipartisan effort to pass the bill is not restricted to the U.S. Senate. TRENDING STORIES: Legendary basketball coach in DeKalb accused of spanking players Explosion rocks Villa Rica after outbuilding at ammo supply shop catches fire Risk for strong to severe storms late Friday, active weather pattern this weekend In the U.S. House of Representatives, Reps. Jamie Raskin of Maryland and Young Kim of California introduced the BARK Act's companion legislation. Echoing the reasoning, Tillis said he supported the bill because 'every year, pet stores throw out surplus pet food, which could easily be donated to feed hungry pets in animal shelters." According to Warnock's office, Georgia shelters are facing overcrowding an rising costs, and the bipartisan legislation would support these overwhelmed shelters, and others across the United States, while reducing waste. 'No shelter pet should have to go hungry when so many pet stores have a surplus of readily available food,' Tillis added. The BARK Act was endorsed by the Humane World Action Fund, Best Friends Animal Society, Pet Food Institute and American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. [SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter]
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Medicare changes on table for ‘big, beautiful bill,' says GOP senator
Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), a member of the Senate Finance Committee, said Thursday that GOP lawmakers are looking at changes to Medicare to root out waste, fraud and abuse. Republican senators are taking a closer look at finding savings in Medicare to increase the total amount of deficit reduction in President Trump's 'big, beautiful bill,' Tillis said a day after the Finance panel met with Trump at the White House. The Congressional Budget Office released a report this week estimating that the House-passed 1,116-page bill would add $2.4 trillion to the national debt over the next decade. Tillis said overhauling systems at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) could save a substantial amount of money without impacting Medicare benefits, which Trump has said should not be cut. He said legislation sponsored by Sens. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) and Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) to reduce Medicare Advantage overpayments could be included in the bigger bill. 'Waste, fraud and abuse, you've got upcoding,' Tillis said. 'Even in the plumbing of CMS — and by that I mean, procurement, matching up contracts, duplicate payments — there are a number of things that I think that we could find that never touch a beneficiary of Medicare or Medicaid that we're going to go after.' Tillis said there are 'a number' of things that could be reformed under the CMS's jurisdiction. 'In the plumbing of CMS, if you take look at contracting, contract execution, contract compliance, duplicate payments, there are a number of things that haven't been touched by the prior administration,' he said. He said Cassidy has 'a very well-thought-out plan' to root out waste in Medicare Advantage. 'Bill is a physician, wants to make sure that we're maintaining quality care, and I think he's done a very, very good job of highlighting the opportunity for hundreds of billions of dollars in savings,' he added. Tillis said 'you could do those provisions' in the 'big, beautiful bill,' which Senate Republicans are trying to get to Trump's desk by July 4. 'It's basically CMS modernization,' he said. Cassidy's bill could save an estimated $275 billion over the next decade, according to a Republican senator familiar with the Finance Committee's deliberations over the proposal. Senate Finance Committee Chairman Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) told The Hill on Thursday that he is familiar with Cassidy's proposal and that his committee is 'evaluating' it for possible inclusion in the budget reconciliation package. Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (N.Y.) attacked Republicans Thursday for looking at ways to cut Medicare spending. 'We learned yesterday the news that Republicans may want to even go after Medicare. Medicare is on the chopping block,' Schumer said on the Senate floor. 'That's right. At yesterday's lunch, Republicans raised the possibility of Medicare cuts to pay for their billionaire tax cuts,' he said. The subject came up at a Wednesday afternoon meeting over how the Senate will rewrite the 1,116-page House-passed budget reconciliation package, which Trump calls his 'big, beautiful bill.' Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) told reporters after the meeting that there 'a legitimate debate' within the Senate Republican conference about whether bigger cuts can be made to federal Medicaid spending and whether federal Medicare spending needs to be reviewed as well. 'There's a legitimate debate about, 'Can we do more with Medicaid? Are we doing too much with Medicaid? How much waste, fraud and abuse is there in Medicare? Why don't we go after that?' I think we should,' Cramer said after meeting with GOP colleagues. Updated at 1:49 p.m. EDT Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
