As Trump’s policies hammer North Carolina, Ted Budd snoozes | Opinion

In his 2022 acceptance speech, newly elected U.S. Sen. Ted Budd noted that the media had dismissed his race against Democrat Cheri Beasley as “sleepy, quiet and under the radar.”

Then he said, “Well, I tell you that this so-called sleepy race … sounded a loud and clear message in Washington, D.C., tonight.”

Well, not exactly. As a senator, Budd is still sleepy, quiet and under the radar.

As President Trump’s legislation and his administration hammer North Carolina’s institutions and economy, its Republican junior senator doesn’t stir. Budd is hardly unique. Republicans in the House and Senate have failed to dissent as Trump usurps their authority and rolls over them and their constituents.

But you have to wonder how much has to happen to North Carolina before Budd says “enough.” There’s already been plenty.

Federal aid to counties hit by Hurricane Helene has been limited, slow and uncertain. Trump’s crusade against universities and federal agencies has frozen grants that drive the Research Triangle’s economy. Duke University, the second largest private employer in the state, has given buyouts to 600 employees and layoffs may follow.

I asked Budd’s office last week for his position on the suspension of federal grants to North Carolina universities and organizations, but have not heard back. The senator may be appealing to the president through back channels, but his public silence must be read as approval.

Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill will undermine major clean energy projects in North Carolina. It also curtails programs that aid the hungry, a change that the state would have to spend $700 million to offset. And the bill’s new rules for Medicaid may push more than 600,000 North Carolinians off the program. Rural areas, where support for Budd is strong, would be hard hit by the losses.

For North Carolina’s senior senator, Republican Thom Tillis, the bill’s impact on North Carolina’s Medicaid recipients was too much. He voted against it and, knowing what the political cost would be for crossing Trump, he announced he will not seek reelection to a third term in 2026. “I will always do what is in the best interest of North Carolina, even when that puts me at odds with my own party,” he said in a statement.

Budd has shown no such qualms. He voted for the bill. Indeed his vote was crucial to a 50-50 Senate tie that was broken by Vice President JD Vance.

Budd’s go-along-with-Trump approach is increasingly at odds with North Carolinians. A July Catawba-YouGov poll showed Trump is underwater in the state he carried three times. The results of the July 1 survey show Trump with a 46% approval rating versus 50% disapproval. Fifty nine percent of respondents in the state’s largest voting group – unaffiliated voters – said they disapprove of the president.

But Budd is a MAGA Republican. He cares about the base and there he is secure. The same poll that showed Trump’s approval underwater also showed that those who voted for Trump give the president 92% approval.

As a low-profile, three-term House member, Budd won the GOP Senate nomination on the strength of Trump’s endorsement. Now he’s completely beholden to him. He’s in no position to use the leverage of his vote to exact concessions from the White House that would help North Carolina.

Budd campaigned in 2022 by appealing to fears about undocumented immigrants and claiming that he would help fight crime and oppose President Biden. Mostly, though, he stood back and let outside groups pummel Beasley with negative ads about her time as the first Black woman to serve as chief justice of the state Supreme Court. Outside groups spent $32 million against Beasley, compared to less than $10 million spent by outside groups against Budd.

Despite all that outside firepower, Budd’s campaign was considered lackluster because he took a cautious and predictable approach based on a handful of conservative issues. In office, he’s done the same. He’s ranked as the 4th most politically right Senate member. The conservative group Heritage Action for America gives Budd a lifetime score of 96%. Tillis’ score is 59%.

When it comes to being an advocate for North Carolina, no one expects the conservative Budd to be woke. But it’s fair to expect him to show he’s awake to the damage being done by Trump’s extreme and erratic actions.

Associate opinion editor Ned Barnett can be reached at 919-404-7583, or nbarnett@newsobserver.com