At Blanche confirmation hearing, the old Thom Tillis returns with a whimper | Opinion
Despite a welcome streak of independence in recent months, Thom Tillis hasn’t left his old ways behind completely.
That much became clear Wednesday during the confirmation hearing of Todd Blanche, Donald Trump’s pick for attorney general.
After the firing of former AG Pam Bondi, Tillis made clear that he would not support a nominee who doesn’t show independence from the White House, nor one who excuses the attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Blanche doesn’t pass either of those tests, a fact that was only reiterated by Wednesday’s hearing.
Yet Tillis’ reservations — and his newfound backbone — seem to have disappeared in familiar fashion.
Rather than asking Blanche the tough questions, Tillis spent the better part of five minutes ranting about his Democratic colleagues who criticized the Trump administration when “President Biden did everything that you’re accusing President Trump of doing.” He bemoaned Biden’s Justice Department for “overprosecuting” Jan. 6 participants, saying they “had their careers and lives ruined because they did something stupid.”
Gone was the newer version of Tillis who boldly voices his concerns and stands by them. In his place was the Tillis that we’re used to, who talks about principles but abandons them when it actually matters.
During the roughly five-hour hearing, Blanche refused to criticize Trump’s decision to pardon Jan. 6 rioters and called it “generous.” He made a damning Freudian slip when asked about his relationship with Trump, saying “I’m his lawyer” before quickly correcting it to the past tense. He refused to commit to meeting with Epstein survivors and downplayed the settlement he made that gave Trump immunity from tax audits. All of that should still raise bright red flags for Tillis, but he seems all too willing to overlook them. He’s provided no satisfactory answer as to why his position changed, or why he doesn’t believe that the red lines he laid out have been crossed. After the hearing, Tillis said he still has concerns about the $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund, but reiterated that he’s leaning toward supporting him.
Of course, we’ve seen Tillis do this enough times that it should no longer be surprising. He acts concerned about something, only to bend the knee at the first opportunity. But what makes it especially frustrating now is that we know he can be better. Since announcing his retirement from the Senate, he’s shown glimpses of it repeatedly, and has taken bold stances that other Republicans are still too cowardly to take. In one particularly poignant moment of reflection, Tillis said recently that he regrets his last-minute decision to support Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth. But his backtracking on Blanche suggests he learned little from that experience.
Toward the end of his questioning, Tillis made an effort to separate Blanche from the Trump administration’s bad decisions.
“You work for somebody, and you’ve got to do what you’re told to do,” Tillis said.
Ironically, that’s the same argument that Tillis has used to avoid directly criticizing the president even when he’s criticized his administration. In Tillis’ eyes, the fault often lies with the advisers who are telling Trump what to do, or with the Cabinet members who are undermining his noble agenda. Now, Tillis seems willing to shift the blame to Trump if it means he can take the easy way out on Blanche. It’s a way of constantly passing the buck that allows Tillis to avoid demanding accountability when it’s politically uncomfortable.
Maybe North Carolina shouldn’t have expected Tillis to be someone different than who he’s always been. Maybe we were too quick to declare that he’s changed. If Wednesday’s hearing taught us anything, it’s that the lines between the “old” and “new” Tillis are simply blurrier than we thought.
Deputy Opinion Editor Paige Masten covers politics and the 2026 elections for The Charlotte Observer and The News & Observer.
This story was originally published July 15, 2026 at 3:18 PM with the headline "At Blanche confirmation hearing, the old Thom Tillis returns with a whimper | Opinion."
