Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) said he doesn’t intend to support any nominee for attorney general if that candidate makes excuses for the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.
The retiring senator’s ultimatum came after President Donald Trump fired Attorney General Pam Bondi, who is being temporarily replaced by her deputy attorney general, Todd Blanche.
“For me, the threshold for somebody following Pam Bondi ends the moment I hear they said one thing that excused the events of Jan. 6. I’ve been very clear on that,” Tillis said on CNN’s The Source with Kaitlan Collins Thursday night. “So I hope whoever they have in mind to follow General Bondi is very clear-eyed on my position on Jan. 6.”
“I won’t support any nominee who thought that any element of Jan. 6 was excused,” he added.
Tillis strongly supported Bondi’s confirmation as attorney general last year but made it clear to her at the time that he did not support Trump’s blanket pardon for over 1,500 Jan. 6 rioters in January 2025.
The North Carolina Republican is a key member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, often holding sway over whether certain nominees can obtain the panel’s approval. He tanked Ed Martin’s nomination to be the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia last year, primarily over the attorney’s past defense of individuals charged with Jan. 6 Capitol riot crimes.
Whoever Trump picks as his next attorney general will need the support of Tillis, who is currently blocking all Federal Reserve nominees over the federal investigation of Chairman Jerome Powell. Kevin Warsh is set to replace Powell if Tillis relents on his blockade.
As for the next attorney general, Blanche was tapped to succeed Bondi, who will take the month after her dismissal to transition from the Department of Justice to the private sector.
Blanche is seen as an obvious long-term replacement given his one-year tenure as Bondi’s deputy, but he may face resistance from Senate Democrats during the confirmation process because of his past work representing Trump in several court cases. Blanche was on the defense team for the federal prosecution regarding Trump’s alleged role in overturning the 2020 election results and participating in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.
Tillis has been critical of Trump’s actions that day as much as the rioters, saying last year that “what the president did sucked.” The senator has not indicated whether he will support or oppose Blanche’s nomination if Trump chooses the deputy attorney general.
The president is reportedly considering other candidates for the position. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin appears to be Trump’s favored choice at the moment, but some of the other floated names are Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL), Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-MO), and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.
Paxton probably won’t receive support from Tillis, considering the Texas official spoke at the pro-Trump rally on Jan. 6, 2021, before the Capitol was stormed by a mob. Paxton, however, did condemn the violence that day. It’s also unlikely Paxton will get Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) to support his bid for U.S. attorney general if one materializes.
WHO IS TODD BLANCHE, THE INTERIM ATTORNEY GENERAL TAKING OVER FOR PAM BONDI?
The two are running against each other in the Texas primary runoff election, set for May 26. Neither has been endorsed by Trump yet.
Other officials who may be a better fit for attorney general, given their current experience at the DOJ, include Harmeet Dhillon, assistant attorney general for Civil Rights; Jay Clayton, U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York; or Jeanine Pirro, U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia. Tillis ultimately supported Pirro as the nominee for the district’s federal prosecutor.