Rebel GOP senator signals he'll torpedo Todd Blanche

Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) made it clear Thursday that acting Attorney General Todd Blanche can forget about getting the job permanently — at least with his vote.

In an interview with Spectrum News' Reuben Jones, the North Carolina Republican was asked whether he'd block Blanche's nomination to lead the Department of Justice after Blanche refused this week to rule out compensating Jan. 6 rioters who assaulted police officers from a new $1.8 billion fund.

"I don't get into hypotheticals, but I don't think that people have to go too far to see that anybody who equivocates and supported the thugs that harm police officers will never get my vote — in committee or on the floor," Tillis said.

The fund, announced this week by the DOJ, is meant to pay individuals who claim they were politically targeted. The money comes from a settlement tied to a lawsuit President Donald Trump brought against the IRS over the unauthorized disclosure of his tax returns.

Tillis didn't mince words about the plan itself, calling it "stupid on stilts."

"It will invariably put us in a position where your taxpayer dollars and my taxpayer dollars could potentially compensate someone who assaulted a police officer, admitted their guilt, got convicted, got pardoned — now we're gonna pay them for that? That's absurd," he said.

The senator compared Republicans backing the fund to Democrats who chanted "defund the police."

"There's no moral difference between the Democrats on ActBlue raising money for 'all cops are b------s' and actually rewarding someone for assaulting a police officer on one of the darkest days in Senate history," Tillis said.

Tillis also unloaded on Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, saying he regrets giving him "the benefit of the doubt" during his confirmation.

"Pete Hegseth has demonstrated to me he doesn't have the confidence to run a large, complex organization," Tillis said, slamming Hegseth's proposal to downgrade U.S. European Command from a four-star to a three-star post as sending "a horrible message to our European partners and allies."

On Trump's strategy in Iran nearly 90 days into the conflict, Tillis said bluntly, "I don't know what the strategy is."

He blasted Trump's recent comment that he doesn't think about Americans' financial situation while pursuing a deal: "When you're having an affordability problem right now, and you have somebody that, you know, is a billionaire saying he doesn't worry about what people are dealing with — they grew up in trailer parks like I did — that's not very wise."

As for Trump endorsing primary challengers against Republicans who cross him, Tillis offered a warning: "If you've gotta be at 100% to get the support of this president and some of the people around him, then why waste your time, frankly?"