Donald Trump’s latest GOP opponent tore into the president in a fiery floor speech Sunday night hours after announcing his decision not to seek re-election.
Tillis has previously slammed proposed changes to Medicaid in the bill as “devastating” for his home state of North Carolina. He was one of just two Senate Republicans to vote against advancing the so-called “Big Beautiful Bill” on Saturday, drawing threats from Trump to back a primary challenger. But Tillis defused that threat on Sunday afternoon, announcing he won’t run next year—giving him, he said, the “pure freedom to call the balls and strikes as I see fit” for the rest of his term.
He seemed to embrace that freedom hours later, as senators debated late into the night over the defining bill of Trump’s domestic agenda.
“It is inescapable that this bill, in its current form, will betray the very promise that Donald J. Trump made” not to slash Medicaid, Tillis said in an emphatic address.
“I’m telling the president that you have been misinformed. You supporting the Senate mark will hurt people who are eligible and qualified for Medicaid,” he added, criticizing Trump’s White House advisers as “amateurs.”
The White House insists “there will be no cuts to Medicaid” from the bill, and Trump had repeatedly vowed not to touch the program. But critics say the proposed changes to Medicaid will amount to billions in backdoor cuts.
“What do I tell 663,000 people in two years or three years, when President Trump breaks his promise by pushing them off of Medicaid because the funding is not there anymore?” Tillis asked.
Trump’s aides “are not telling him that the effect of this bill is to break a promise,” Tillis added.
Tillis presented research he said he had done with the help of three independent sources—one Republican group, one Democratic, and a nonpartisan hospital association.
“What I found is the best case scenario is about a $26 billion cut,” he said.
The senator, who has served in Congress for a decade, said he supports other reforms in the bill, but implored his colleagues not to rush through deliberations in order to meet the “artificial deadline” of July 4 imposed by Trump.
“We can take the time to get this right, if we lay down the House mark of the Medicaid bill and fix it,” he said.
Trump on Saturday lashed out at Tillis, warning that he was making a “BIG MISTAKE” and calling him “a talker and complainer, NOT A DOER!” He celebrated the news of his retirement on Sunday night, but has not yet reacted publicly to the senator’s speech.
Speaking to reporters after leaving the Senate floor, Tillis said: “I respect President Trump, I support the majority of his agenda, but I don’t bow to anybody when the people of North Carolina are at risk, and this puts them at risk.”
He also shared a clip on X of his 11-minute remarks, writing, “The facts matter. The people matter.”
The facts matter. The people matter. The Senate’s Medicaid approach breaks promises and will kick people off of Medicaid who truly need it. The Senate can make one simple fix to make sure that won’t happen. pic.twitter.com/zvW1AgCxBF
— Senator Thom Tillis (@SenThomTillis) June 30, 2025
Democratic Whip Dick Durbin, in his own speech shortly afterwards, thanked Tillis for his comments.
“He’s shown extraordinary courage. The question is whether others will join him. Whether four Republican senators will step up and say, ‘enough. I heard enough, I’ve seen enough, I believe this is wrong,’” the senator said.
“I hope that what Senator Tillis said on the floor will inspire members of his own caucus to listen carefully, to know that he speaks the truth, and has taken great political risk to say it,” he added.
Following hours of debate, voting on amendments is expected to start on Monday morning. If passed by the Senate, the legislation would need final approval from the House before heading to Trump’s desk.
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