‘RINO’ Senator Refuses To Commit To Supporting Trump’s AG Nominee

Senator Thom Tillis (R-NC) is refusing to pledge his support for President Donald Trump’s eventual nominee for attorney general unless they satisfy his outrage of the January 6 Capitol protests from 2021.

The news comes after President Trump fired Attorney General Pam Bondi, who had served in the crucial position throughout the president’s second term. Assistant Attorney General Todd Blanche took over as acting attorney general on an interim basis, though President Trump has yet to name a full-time replacement.

Environmental Protection Agency Director Lee Zeldin, D.C. U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro, Senator Eric Schmitt (R-MO), FBI Deputy Director Andrew Bailey and Blanche himself have all been rumored to be in the mix for the full-time role.

Tillis was asked about the vacancy while speaking with CNN’s Kaitlan Collins on Friday. Tillis — who is retiring at the end of his term — has repeatedly found himself at odds with the president’s base and agenda since announcing that he would not be seeking re-election.

The senator’s support is crucial due to his seat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, which must approve any potential nominee for a floor vote. Committee approval typically requires a simple majority, but with Democrats expected to unanimously oppose any Trump nominees, dissent from Tillis could doom any hypothetical candidate.

“For me, the threshold for somebody following Pam Bondi ends the moment I hear they said one thing that excused the events of January the 6th. I’ve been very clear on that,” Tillis told CNN. “So I hope whoever they have in mind to follow General Bondi is very clear-eyed on my position on Jan. 6.”

He noted that he had previously tanked Trump nominees over their failure to condemn the mass trespassing event from 2021. “That’s why I didn’t support two other nominees who were coming through judiciary committee. And I won’t support any nominee who thought that any element of January 6 was excused.”

The senator’s stance is indeed consistent with his past comments and actions relating to the January 6 events. In May 2025, Tillis opposed President Trump’s nomination of Ed Martin to serve as U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia.

Martin, who had represented some individuals charged in connection with January 6 as a private attorney and had been serving in the role on an interim basis, faced scrutiny from Tillis over his advocacy for January 6 defendants. The Senate Judiciary Committee would have needed to advance that nomination as well, but failed to do so due to Tillis’ opposition.

“I have no tolerance for anyone who entered the building on Jan. 6, and that’s probably where most of the friction was,” the senator said at the time.

“Mr. Martin did a good job of explaining the one area that I think he’s probably right, that there were some people that were over prosecuted, but there were some, two or three hundred of them that should have never gotten a pardon. If Mr. Martin were being put forth as a U.S. attorney for any district except the district where Jan. 6 happened, the protest happened, I’d probably support him, but not in this district,” he added.

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