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After voting against the advancement of President Donald Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., announced that he will retire at the end of his term.
One of just two Republican senators who voted against advancing the president’s legislation, President Trump criticized Tillis for his opposition, causing him to cede reelection the next day.
Tillis celebrated his self-described “bipartisan victories,” but insisted that the “partisan gridlock” of Washington and his lukewarm feelings on another reelection campaign were reason for his departure.
According to the senator’s reelection statement, Tillis will leave office when his term expires on Jan. 3, 2027.
The Republican senator’s announcement comes after the president bashed Tillis for grandstanding against the bill for a publicity stunt, and that he was considering endorsing a potential primary challenger against the incumbent.
“Looks like Senator Thom Tillis, as usual, wants to tell the Nation that he’s giving them a 68% Tax Increase, as opposed to the Biggest Tax Cut in American History!” President Trump wrote Saturday night in a post to Truth Social.
The president further slammed Tillis for being “unable to understand the importance of a Debt Extension,” throwing out North Carolina’s tobacco industry, supporting Chinese-made energy and windmills, and being “missing in action” after the state was devastatingly flooded in 2024 by Hurricane Helene.
Likewise, he accused Tillis of making a mistake for opposing not taxing tips, overtime, and social security, more border security, interest deductions on cars, and making a stronger military.
He wrote, “North Carolina will not allow one of their Senators to GRANDSTAND in order to get some publicity for himself, for a possible, but very difficult Re-Election.”
Shortly thereafter, President Trump explained that he would be meeting with potential primary challengers to run against Tillis, and that the senator was a “talker and complainer, not a doer.”
He also compared Tillis to Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., the second Republican senator to oppose advancing the bill, although it was still advanced in the U.S. Senate by a vote of 51-49.
“He’s even worse than Rand ‘Fauci’ Paul,” President Trump added in a separate post.
Tillis supposedly opposed the president’s Big Beautiful Bill due to its Medicaid cuts brought by changes to the Medicaid provider tax rate, Fox News reported.
Tillis is now the third incumbent Republican senator to not run for reelection in 2026, joining outgoing Sens. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala.
Nevertheless, Tillis’s decision makes North Carolina’s Senate race even more competitive, with the open seat likely being the most hotly contested of the 2026 midterm election cycle.
It is the only open swing-seat up for grabs this cycle, and one of two swing-seats held by Republicans, the other being Maine.