Hurricane Thom keeps blowing a lot of hot air

I’m old enough to remember all of these establishment types telling those of us on the right how we needed to bite our tongues, swallow our pride, and be good *team players* in the fight to send Thom Tillis to Washington.

Just like the unknown persons who peed all over his brother’s chair in the Tennessee legislature, Thom Tillis has used his time since announcing his retirement to pee all over his party, his party’s president, and his party’s base. ‘

He portrays his retirement as tiring of Washington, wanting to spend more time with his family.  *Allegedly it had nothing to do with the polling by the RNC showing him losing by NINE points to any and all comers. *

We have about eight more months of this jagoff.  He’s making it clear that he’s going to camp out in front of CNN, NBC and other drive-by cameras for the duration:

During an interview with Fox News’ Maria Bartiromo that aired Wednesday, President Donald Trump suggested Sen. Thom Tillis, a centrist Republican who has occasionally broken with the president, “already quit” the Senate and wouldn’t be a factor in confirming his nominees.

But Tillis is still here. And as a member of the Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, he’s exercising his ability to single-handedly block Kevin Warsh, Trump’s nominee to replace Jerome Powell as the head of the Federal Reserve.

In an extensive interview with NBC News, Tillis called Warsh “a perfect candidate,” but maintained that he would not vote to confirm him until the Trump administration ends its federal criminal probe into Powell. […]

Wow.  Sounds like obstruction of justice to me.  *But who am I?  I didn’t take 30 years at over a dozen community colleges to get my degree, or con my way into a US Senate seat.  So what do I know?*

MORE:

[…] Warsh’s confirmation hearing to replace Powell is scheduled for next week, and he cannot be confirmed without Tillis’ vote, as long as Democrats remain unified against Trump’s pick.

Tillis blasted the investigation, saying Powell did nothing wrong. He said he takes the president at his word that he was not involved in opening the investigation, despite Trump’s criticism of and threats to fire Powell, who has refused his pressure to cut interest rates. Instead, he suggested “somebody in DOJ” was going after Powell to “maybe garner favor from somebody in the White House.”

Powell has denied wrongdoing and a federal judge last month blocked subpoenas in the probe, citing “essentially zero evidence.” […]

Of course, that judge was a Democrat appointee.  Likely one that Tillis voted for during his tenure on the Senate Judiciary Committee.

MORE:

[…] End the probe, he said, “and I will vote for Kevin Warsh simultaneously with the conclusion of that statement coming out of the DOJ, and not a day before, and not for the remaining … 264 days in my tenure in the U.S. Senate.”[…]

[…] Since the beginning of the war with Iran, Tillis has given Trump “latitude” on the operation, he said. He’s voted against multiple efforts from Democrats and Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky to rein in the president’s military actions.

But now, nearly seven weeks into the conflict, Tillis is concerned that the Trump administration has not articulated its goals — and he doesn’t see a resolution anytime soon.

“What’s concerning me now is we’re coming up on the 45-day mark. Sixty days is important with respect to the war powers resolution, and I’m not quite clear what the strategic objectives are,” he said.

Beyond the 60-day mark, Tillis said, “it’s going to be difficult to get my support” to continue the conflict

As Americans are seeing an average nationwide increase of 38% for a gallon of gas, according to AAA, Tillis urged the administration to “share the details with us. Start by sharing details with the committees of jurisdiction,” suggesting that none of the briefings officials held with lawmakers have been sufficient.

The war is estimated to have cost more than $30 billion so far. When the time comes to replenish military coffers, the administration will ask Congress to approve additional funding. Tillis said, “I’ve got to see the detail,” but added, “I’m not a no.”

“I am a fiscal conservative, and I hope my Republican colleagues will be too, and expect the same sort of basic oversight questions,” he continued. “Not this ‘Don’t worry about the details. We’ve got it.’ That’s not how our government works when we’re at our best.”

On November’s elections

The retiring lawmaker has one overarching message for the rest of his party ahead of the November elections that will determine the balance of power for the rest of Trump’s second term: “We have to think only, in my opinion, about the priorities of the members of the U.S. Senate who are up for re-election and the priorities that will get them re-elected. Everything else is noise and everything else is a threat to good execution.”

Among the noise, to Tillis, is Trump’s pressure on his colleagues to nuke the filibuster to pass the SAVE America Act, a bill that would require proof of citizenship at the ballot box. Tillis remains steadfast that he would not vote to get rid of the 60-vote threshold required to pass most legislation in the Senate.

“I hope that I live to a ripe old age, mainly because I want to see my grandbabies grow up, but in part is because I want to say ‘I told you so’ to some of these people who think that it’s not going to have a long-term impact on some of these process changes, and I think we’ll live to regret it,” he said.

Despite his hesitation to criticize Trump directly, Tillis said it may not be helpful for the president to campaign for Michael Whatley, the Republican nominee to fill his seat, in a centrist state like North Carolina. […]

[…] “Let’s just be honest with this. In a purple state like this, you need to be on message. There is no room for error,” Tillis said, asking an aide to toss him a football with the results of his 2020 narrow victory over Democrat Cal Cunningham printed on it. “On a big day, a landslide in North Carolina for a Republican is usually somewhere between 1 and 2 points. And so you have to absolutely be spotting the landing.”[….]

[…] Tillis said he would campaign for Whatley if he “wants my help” but will largely focus on the down-ballot races in his state. […]