Senator Thom Tillis (RN.C.) advised Wednesday that he would not support the confirmation of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
In an interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper, Tillis said that he “has informed me of the meeting that I will delay the Senate Armed Service ticket.”
“If he gets a unanimous vote from the Senate Armed Forces, I’ll delay them,” Tillis said.
But Tillis later added that he did not “regret about the decision I made at that time based on facts I knew—and then, today, I began to wonder if armed services might be somewhat generous in assessing his capabilities as the world’s largest, most complex, most complex and say-worthy, consequences organization.”
“So you won’t regret it, but if you have to do it again today, you probably won’t vote, right?” Tapper replied.
“I think it’s based on my information today,” Tillis said. “If I had only the information on the day of the vote, I would have voted for him again.”
In the same interview, Tillis also slammed Trump advisers, calling them amateurs.
“I have no problem with President Trump. I got one – I think some people who I think are amateurs have problems.”
When I’m not in the room, when you’re like the president, when you’re like the president, I’ll be very clear that you won’t impress me. They will hear more in the coming months. ”
Republican senators are not happy about how Trump has treated Tillis lately, with the president blowing up North Carolina Republicans on social media last week because Tillis said he would not vote for “big and beautiful Bill.”
Among colleagues, Tillis is seen as a team player focusing on grades, and many Republicans believe he will have the best chance to keep a seat for Republicans in next year’s election.
The mountain has been contacted by the White House and the Department of Defense for comment.