Sen. Thom Tillis, one of the most vocal GOP critics of Donald Trump, said he was "thrilled" to be called a "loser" by the president over his criticism of Kristi Noem, quipping that it would make him "qualified to be DHS secretary."

Tillis was one of the first Republicans to join with a growing number of congressional Democrats in calling for the removal of Noem as Homeland Security Secretary. Criticism of Noem's handling of the department has intensified over the last few weeks, as ICE and CBP agents launched an enormous deportation surge in the Minnesota Twin Cities area, and reached a boiling point this weekend after federal agents shot and killed U.S. citizen Alex Pretti.

In the wake of that tragedy, more lawmakers in Washington than ever joined the call for Noem to step down from her position or be fired. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said that Democrats would pursue an impeachment inquiry against her if she were not removed.

Tillis, a North Carolina Republican, alongside fellow GOP Trump enemy, Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, were the first Republicans in Congress to publicly call for Noem's ouster over the handling of the Pretti situation. Tillis also called for the firing of Stephen Miller, one of Trump's closest advisers, known for his hardline anti-immigrant beliefs and heavy involvement in the administration's deportation efforts.

“I think what she’s done in Minnesota should be disqualifying,” Tillis told reporters on Tuesday. “It’s just amateurish. It’s terrible. It’s making the president look bad.”

In response, Trump took aim at Tillis and Murkowski in an ABC News interview on Wednesday, branding them as "losers."

“They’re terrible senators. One is gone, and the other should be gone,” Trump said. “What Murkowski says — she’s always against the Republicans anyway. And Tillis decided to drop out. So you know, he lost his voice once he did that.”

Speaking with CNN congressional correspondent Manu Raju, Tillis took a playful jab at the president's comment and said that he was "thrilled" to be called a loser.

“I am thrilled about that," Tillis said. "That makes me qualified to be homeland security secretary and senior adviser to the president.”

While Trump did order the removal of CBP commander Greg Bovino from his position on the ground leading immigration enforcement efforts in Minnesota, he has so far resisted calls to ditch Noem and Miller.

When outgoing Sen. Thom Tillis (R-North Carolina) decided not to seek reelection in the 2026 midterms, he likely avoided the fate that Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Kentucky), Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-Louisiana) and at least five Indiana state lawmakers recently suffered when they were voted out of office via GOP primaries. Trump was angry with Massie, Cassidy and the others, railing against them relentlessly and endorsing MAGA primary challengers — and Massie realized he was in danger as well. But Tillis plans to serve out the rest of his term, and he candidly spoke his mind about the Trump administration and the state of the Republican Party during an interview with Politico's Jordain Carney.

Although the conservative senator isn't a full-fledged Never Trumper, he hasn't been shy about criticizing the president at times. And he attacked a variety of Trump administration and MAGA policies during the interview, giving fellow Republicans what Carney described as "a dose of bitter medicine."

"Every time I've disagreed with the president," Tillis told Politico, "it's been almost exclusively because I think it's divergent from Republicans' interest in getting reelected this November. Every single time. The health care policy that got airdropped in the 'big beautiful bill,' I knew it was going to be a problem. It is a problem now. Now, everybody sees that. That's why I objected to the reconciliation last year. The reason I'm objecting to the ballroom and the slush fund for the DOJ — bad politics, really bad timing, bad policy. I mean, that's the trifecta. Every time I have opposed this president is because I believe it's at odds with getting Republicans reelected."

Tillis offered a scathing critique of Pete Hegseth's performance as defense secretary, once again calling for him to be fired.

Tillis told Politico, "I suspect that Hegseth cast aside concerns he was hearing from some of the finest people that ever served in uniform and took his cowboy-ish approach to going into Iran. I'm glad the president did what he did in Iran; I'm not glad that he has Hegseth advising him on the details…. I'd love to see Pete Hegseth fired because he's incompetent and doing a horrible job."

During the interview, Tillis criticized Trump's "anti-weaponization fund" as "an embarrassment" — calling for Congress to "nuke it." And he was highly critical of U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) investigations of outgoing U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell and others.

Tillis told Politico, "I’m thinking about the picture that right now is the only basis I have for a new indictment against (former FBI Director) Comey. Some of the other bogus lawsuits from now no-longer-acting acting U.S. attorneys. All that, I want to know whose fingerprints were on it. I don't think big DOJ knew about the Powell investigation, so I wouldn't hold that against them; that was a boneheaded move in the bowels of DOJ. But anything where they were in the decision loop, yeah, they got a lot of questions to answer to get my support."

President Donald Trump is secretly loathed by many of the Republican lawmakers who publicly claim to support him, according to a conservative commentator.

Quoting Rep. Nick Langworthy (R-NY) from the lawmaker’s recent interview with Chataqua Today, The Bulwark’s Joe Perticone defended Trump’s $1.8 billion slush fund for Trump-linked institutions and Trump supporters by saying “we have to have really tight scrutiny, a really high burden of proof as to how those monies are going to be distributed. I don’t think this should be seen as some direct slush fund for one particular event. I mean, there’s obviously a lot of arguments about people that claim to be falsely imprisoned. Just because they were pardoned, doesn’t mean that they were falsely imprisoned. They were charged and convicted of crimes—and there were juries of their peers that did that. I just think that we need far more answers, and I think that there’s many of us asking our leadership to go get to the bottom of that.”

Later in the same interview, Langworthy doubled down by echoing Trump’s argument that his supporters have been victimized.

“People’s lives and livelihoods have been ruined by lawfare and, you know, excessive aggression by the government,” Langworthy said. “But, you know, the way that this came together with a settlement, I think we have a little ways to go.”

As Perticone pointed out, though, Langworthy expressed a very different view in a letter to a constituent this week.

“While I strongly condemn the unlawful disclosure of President Trump’s tax returns and the weaponization of the federal government under President Biden, I do not believe American taxpayers should bear the financial cost for this weaponization,” Langworthy told the constituent.

Other GOP lawmakers are attempting more subtle methods of flip-flopping.Rep. Laurel Lee (R-FL) wrote that “this is a rapidly evolving issue currently being addressed primarily in the Senate, and it remains unclear whether the House will consider related legislation or oversight measures.” House Ways and Means Chairman Rep. Mike Kelly (R-PA) instead told constituents in a letter that Trump “and his sons and family business” had filed the $10 billion lawsuit against the IRS for the leaking of tax return information and added that the president “moved to voluntarily drop the $10 billion lawsuit as part of a settlement agreement.” Although he promised to prioritize “safeguarding taxpayer information,” he refused to speak about the controversies surrounding the fund, including that it might pay Jan. 6th insurrectionists, line the president’s pockets, involved self-dealing (Trump controls both the IRS that he sued and the Justice Department assigned to represent that agency) and was rushed to avoid judicial oversight.

Perticone only identified one Republican who was willing to stay “consistent,” the outgoing Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC).

“In both public remarks and in letters to constituents, Tillis has fiercely opposed the fund,” Perticone wrote. “Much of his opposition has centered on the character of the people standing back and standing by for a share of the money.”

He added, “‘These people don’t deserve restitution. Many of them deserve to be in prison,’ Tillis said Thursday. ‘But this is just stupid on stilts.’ In a constituent letter the same week, Tillis wrote, ‘I am opposed to this decision. Allegations of political bias within our justice system are serious matters, and I believe the DOJ must operate independently, impartially, and in accordance with the rule of law, regardless of who occupies the White House.’”

President Donald Trump’s ongoing legal attacks on Fed Chair Jerome Powell are not only getting dunked by judges in court, but they’re appearing more and more pointless considering that Trump gets to appoint Powell’s replacement next month when Powell’s term expires.

With that in mind, Trump’s normally faithful Republican allies are not only puzzled by his justice department’s targeted investigation of Powell, but getting snippy at the personal nature of the it, according to Semafor.

“Senate Republicans have an increasingly clear message for the Trump administration: If the president wants a new Federal Reserve chair, federal prosecutors need to drop their investigation into Jerome Powell,” reports Semafor, quoting new GOP senate voices threatening ultimatums if Trump wants a new chair.

The movement began with retiring Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C taking a stand against Trump on defending Fed independence, but it is now a growing into chorus of impatient warnings. According to Semafor, publicly and privately, GOP senators are insisting that for Warsh to move into the chair position, the Justice Department probe has to go.

“We don’t want, obviously, cost overruns and so on and so forth — and so I think that [oversight] is going to continue with the [inspector general],” Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., told Semafor. “But at least as far as the issue with Powell, I think it’d be good if we could get that wrapped up, from the standpoint of getting Warsh in there and moving on.”

Meanwhile, Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) told Semafor that he’d personally “like to see the president get his chairman,” but warned “the best way to do that is finding an off-ramp that takes care of the issue and we get rid of the criminal investigation and we perhaps offer an alternative.”

Semafor reports Tillis was considerably more forceful with his own demands earlier this week, warning fellow senators during Warsh’s Tuesday hearing that “One thing all martyrs have in common: They’re dead.”

“If I’m able to do it and keep the outcome, why should we do anything more than the minimum number of members necessary to accomplish the goal?” Semafor reports Tillis saying, “Why would we expose other people to the discourse?”

If Democrats manage to flip the U.S. Senate in the 2026 midterms — or at least reduce the size of the GOP's small Senate majority — President Donald Trump will have a harder time getting his nominees confirmed in 2027. And that includes U.S. Supreme Court nominees should any seats become available. Some MAGA Republicans are arguing that Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas should retire in 2026, giving Trump a chance to nominate two justices even if Democrats regain control of the Senate. But according to Newsweek, Trump may not have the votes — even with the GOP's small Senate majority.

Reporter Jesus Mesa, in Newsweek, explains, "President Donald Trump has spent recent weeks on what aides have called a 'revenge tour' against Republican senators who have opposed him. The strategy involves endorsing challengers to incumbents who voted against him and pushing MAGA-aligned candidates in key races ahead of this year's midterm elections. If U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito or Justice Clarence Thomas retires before the end of the year, Trump would need to nominate a replacement for Senate confirmation. According to political analysts consulted by Newsweek, the president does not have the votes for confirmation."

Mesa reporters that Trump's U.S. Senate endorsements — including an endorsement of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton over incumbent Sen. John Cornyn in Texas' GOP U.S. Senate primary — "have created tensions with some Republican senators whose votes would be crucial in any Supreme Court confirmation."

"Sen. Susan Collins of Maine is running for reelection this year in a state that has trended Democratic," Mesa notes. "Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska defeated a Trump-backed primary challenger in 2022. Both have expressed concerns about supporting conservative Supreme Court nominees in the past. Trump's endorsements have directly affected three other Republicans critical to Supreme Court confirmations…. Cornyn until recently chaired the Senate Judiciary Committee, the panel that vets Supreme Court nominees before a full Senate vote…. Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina announced, in 2025, that he would not seek reelection in 2026."

Mesa adds, "With no future campaign to protect, Tillis voted against Trump on Iran war powers and opposed several administration judicial nominees. Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana lost his primary on May 16 to a Trump-backed opponent."

Jim Kessler of the centrist think tank Third Way believes that Trump, by alienating Senate Republicans, is making it harder to get nominees confirmed.

Kessler told Newsweek, "Revenge is a two-way street. All the politicians that he's gone after are either finished with their career or they hope to have a second start by being someone who took Trump on…. People like Lisa Murkowski and Susan Collins were already gonna be a 'no' on any Supreme Court justice because Collins is up for reelection and Murkowski will be up soon. And then, you've got Thom Tillis as well. So, you know, I don't think the votes are there for that."

GOP strategist Mike Madrid told Newsweek, "A year ago, nobody ever believed that the Democrats would be within striking distance of getting a majority in the Senate. And now it's, you know, it's a coin toss. It's as likely as that it's not. That jeopardizes the entire Trump agenda. And of course, (the) Supreme Court…. becomes a big part of that consideration."

Republicans in Congress are once again "deeply divided," according to The Hill, as a new civil war breaks out over whether and how to authorize funding for President Donald Trump's war in Iran, which many lawmakers fear has no end in sight.

In a Wednesday morning report, The Hill revealed the uncertainties driving this new division within the GOP, including whether or not to give war authorizations beyond a 90-day limit and requiring the White House to provide a clearer sense of strategic goals that could mark a much-needed endpoint to the war.

"Senate Republicans are deeply divided over how to handle an expected request from President Trump to fund the military conflict with Iran, which some GOP lawmakers worry has no end in sight," The Hill explained. "Several Republican senators are talking with Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) about crafting a resolution to authorize military force against Iran beyond the 60- to 90-day period set by the 1973 War Powers Act to respond to national security threats without congressional authorization. They believe Congress needs to authorize the fight beyond the end of May, which they view as a prerequisite to approving tens of billions of dollars in new funding for the war. And they want the White House to provide much more information about its strategic goals and plans for eventually ending the conflict before agreeing to another big tranche of funding."

Speaking with the outlet, Sen. John Curtis, a Utah Republican, said that he would need to see a "long list" of requirements met by the Trump administration before he would consider voting to authorize the Iran war beyond the War Powers Act limit. This would include a clearer picture of the "goals, objectives and strategies" needed to bring the conflict to an end and the avoidance of putting boots on the ground in Iran. The senator said that "everybody is worried" about the conflict spiraling on indefinitely.

"As far as a large force, that would not be a place I would want to go,” Curtis said.

Sen. Thom Tillis, a North Carolina Republican and outspoken Trump critic, added his voice to the call for a clearer exit strategy from the White House.

"We’re at the 45-day mark, now we got to start talking about an authorization for the use of military force,” Tillis said. “The White House has to have a very well-articulated plan for exiting... We need just a clear indication of where the administration wants to go: double-down or begin the cessation of hostilities."

Tillis added that while the war is proving toxic with most American voters, an authorization to extend it longer could give the Trump administration greater leverage in peace talks with Iran.

"The GOP leadership’s decision to keep funding for military operations against Iran out of the package reflects divisions within their caucus over how to handle the administration’s desire for more defense money," The Hill added. "Some Republicans are voicing frustrations over the war’s impact on fuel and fertilizer prices, which have hit farmers especially hard."

Republicans in Congress are ripping into President Donald Trump, according to The Hill, warning that he is smashing his own agenda's chance of survival as the party runs out of time before the midterms.

Trump has seen numerous victories over the last few weeks, endorsing primary challengers for his critics within the GOP and successfully tanking their reelection bids. Just this week, Sen. Bill Cassidy and Rep. Thomas Massie fell to Trump-backed opponents, cementing the president's grip over the hardcore GOP base, even as his popularity overall remains in freefall.

As The Hill reported on Thursday, these developments are "striking fear" into the hearts of many GOP lawmakers, but still some are warning the president that his obsession with loyalty and revenge is primed to "backfire" on him as his agenda becomes nearly impossible to pass. The GOP has narrow margins in both the House and the Senate, and for the rest of the year, the incumbents that Trump has targeted are much more likely to break with him on key votes, tanking the odds that he can get anything meaningful passed before Democrats, more than likely, sweep into power after the midterms.

"GOP senators say Trump has demonstrated his influence with Republican primary voters, but they warn his efforts to torpedo fellow GOP officeholders could make it tougher to pass his agenda," The Hill noted.

“Why are you creating a structural vote count that could prevent you from getting almost anything done with a supermajority going forward?” Sen. Thom Tillis, another Trump opponent who is not seeking reelection, told the outlet. “Why would anybody think that that makes sense? I count votes."

Fears are now mounting that Trump has tanked Rep. John Cornyn's odds in the Texas GOP Senate primary after endorsing state Attorney General Ken Paxton. Cornyn, a more moderate conservative voice, was considered by many to be the party's most electable option in the race, with Paxton, a staunch MAGA ally, being unpopular after a career marked by scandal and corruption. Paxton securing the nomination would, according to polls, give Democrats a solid chance of winning the seat with their candidate, James Talarico.

"I hope to God that John Cornyn wins next week, but if he loses, [the president’s] got a structural five or six votes [in the Senate GOP conference] that can stop anything from a simple majority for the remainder of his term," Tillis added.

The Hill suggested that the burned Republicans will not oppose Trump out of personal revenge, but will be "less willing to stick their necks out by taking tough votes to pass unpopular legislation or confirm controversial nominees with suspect qualifications." Tillis cited Trump's ballroom, a costly project he has become more and more obsessed with, as a prime example of something less likely to find the support it needs.

"I’m not suggesting that the president’s endorsement of Paxton over a principled, strong, solid lawmaker like John Cornyn is smart at all," Sen. Lisa Murkowski, a moderate Alaska Republican, told the outlet. “He made his decision and I think that makes things harder in our Republican conference right now. It makes it harder for his agenda, but it also makes it harder for the Republican team who want to be there to support the president to be doing just that."