Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., criticizes President Donald Trump’s «big, beautiful bill» for Medicaid cuts after announcing he won’t seek reelection in 2026.
Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., denounced President Donald Trump’s «big, beautiful bill», just hours after making the surprise announcement that he would not run for a third term in 2026.
Tillis voted against a motion to proceed with the spending package on Saturday and then announced his retirement on Sunday, citing political polarization and a desire to spend more time with family.
He then took to the Senate floor later Sunday to warn that «Republicans are about to make a mistake on healthcare and betraying a promise» on Medicaid should the package clear the upper chamber.
TRUMP REACTS TO TILLIS NOT SEEKING RE-ELECTION, SENDS WARNING TO ‘COST CUTTING REPUBLICANS’
«It is inescapable that this bill in its current form will betray the very promise that Donald J. Trump made in the Oval Office or in the Cabinet room when I was there with finance. He said, ‘We can go after waste, fraud and abuse’ on any programs», Tillis said. «Now, those amateurs that are advising him, not Dr. Oz, I’m talking about White House healthcare experts, refuse to tell him that those instructions that were to eliminate waste, fraud and abuse, all of a sudden eliminates a government program that’s called the provider tax. We have morphed a legal construct that admittedly has been abused and should be eliminated into waste, fraud and abuse, money laundering. Read the code. Look how long it’s been there.»
«I’m telling the president that you have been misinformed», Tillis said. «You supporting the Senate mark will hurt people who are eligible and qualified for Medicaid.
