Two days after Trump fired Pam Bondi as attorney general, Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) delivered an unusually blunt message to whoever comes next: "The threshold for somebody following Pam Bondi ends the moment I hear they say one thing that excused the events of January 6." He wasn't done. Within 24 hours, Tillis was also co-signing a statement warning that any president who tries to withdraw the U.S. from NATO is "fulfilling Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping's greatest dreams." Both positions put him in direct conflict with Donald Trump — and give a single senator outsized influence over two of the most consequential decisions of Trump's second term.
The Attorney General Vacancy — and Why Tillis Has Leverage
Trump fired Bondi on April 2, citing her handling of the Epstein files. He immediately elevated Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche as acting AG, but Blanche's role is temporary. Trump still needs a Senate-confirmed permanent attorney general — and Tillis sits on the Senate Judiciary Committee, the body that must approve any nominee before a full Senate vote.
This is not the first time Tillis has used that seat to stop a Trump pick. Last year, he blocked Ed Martin — Trump's choice for U.S. Attorney for Washington D.C. — specifically because of Martin's comments excusing the January 6 Capitol riot. The Senate Judiciary Committee is often where nominations succeed or quietly die. A single Republican defection on that committee can be enough to deny a nominee a favorable committee report, complicating the path to a full Senate floor vote.
According to Fox News and the Washington Examiner, Trump is considering several candidates to replace Bondi. The leading reported frontrunner is EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin, a former Republican congressman from New York. Other names circulating include Jeanine Pirro, the former prosecutor and Fox News personality, and Alina Habba, Trump's former personal lawyer. Some speculation has also centered on whether Trump might pull a sitting senator into the role.
Tillis has not indicated whether he would support or oppose Blanche if Trump nominates him permanently. But his Jan. 6 red line is explicit: "I won't support any nominee who thinks any element of January 6 was excusable," he told reporters this week, according to Fox News.
What Tillis's Jan. 6 Position Actually Means
Tillis has been one of the most consistent Republican critics of January 6 in the Senate. He voted to convict Trump at the second impeachment trial. After Trump's 2025 pardons of January 6 rioters, Tillis publicly called the events of that day unacceptable and has repeatedly said that "what the president did sucked" — referencing Trump's actions on January 6, 2021.
His position matters because Trump's attorney general will have direct authority over DOJ's handling of any remaining January 6 prosecutions, the Epstein investigation that got Bondi fired, and the broader posture of federal law enforcement during a wartime presidency. Trump's allies have been vocal about wanting an AG who would aggressively pursue what they frame as the "deep state" — a framing that often includes challenging the January 6 prosecutions as politically motivated. That's precisely the kind of nominee Tillis says he will block.
The math is tight. Republicans hold 53 seats in the Senate. If Tillis and even one other Republican oppose a nominee, the nominee needs Democratic support to reach the 50-vote threshold, which is vanishingly unlikely for a Trump AG pick. In the Judiciary Committee specifically, even a single Republican defection can deny a nominee a committee-approved path.
The Second Red Line: NATO
Simultaneously, Tillis co-signed a statement with Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) — his co-chair on the bipartisan Senate NATO Observer Group — warning against any U.S. withdrawal from the alliance. "Any President that contemplates attempting to withdraw from NATO is not only fulfilling Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping's greatest dreams but would be undermining America's own national security interests," the joint statement read, according to Defense News.
The statement came after Trump told The Telegraph that leaving NATO was "beyond reconsideration" and repeatedly called the alliance a "paper tiger" after European allies refused to join military operations in the Strait of Hormuz. Former Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) issued a separate statement rejecting the withdrawal threat, telling reporters the Senate will continue to support the alliance. USA Today noted this represented a "rare bipartisan brushback" from within Trump's own party.
Practically speaking, there is a legal backstop. A 2024 law requires a two-thirds Senate vote before the U.S. can withdraw from NATO — a threshold that is nearly impossible to reach given the bipartisan opposition. Still, the public break between Tillis, McConnell, and Trump on NATO — during an active war in the Middle East — signals a rare moment of GOP fracture on matters of national security.
Why a Retiring Senator Has This Much Power
Tillis is not running for reelection. He announced in 2025 that he would not seek a third term in 2026. That political reality cuts two ways: Trump has less leverage over him through the threat of a primary challenge or withdrawal of political support. Tillis has nothing to lose electorally by defying the White House. He is also, paradoxically, more credible to moderates and independents as a result — his positions on January 6 and NATO cannot easily be framed as political opportunism when he has no election to win.
That independence has made him a recurring thorn in the administration's side. He previously opposed elements of Trump's immigration agenda, voted against some of Trump's judicial nominees, and has been a consistent voice for maintaining traditional Republican foreign policy positions even as the Trump party has moved away from them.
For the attorney general confirmation fight specifically, Tillis's position on the Judiciary Committee gives him structural leverage that goes beyond his individual vote. Committee chairs set hearing schedules. Ranking members negotiate what testimony gets heard. A determined Tillis — even as a minority voice within the Republican caucus — can slow, complicate, and draw public attention to a nominee he opposes.
What Comes Next
Trump has not formally announced a nominee to replace Bondi as of April 4. Todd Blanche continues to serve as acting AG, a role he cannot fill indefinitely without Senate confirmation. The longer the vacancy continues, the more attention falls on the question Tillis is publicly forcing: what does the nominee think about January 6?
Zeldin, the apparent frontrunner, has not made extensive public statements about January 6. His record as a congressman includes voting against certifying the 2020 election results — a fact that will face scrutiny if he enters a confirmation hearing. Pirro has been publicly supportive of Trump and has downplayed the January 6 prosecutions. Neither profile appears obviously compatible with Tillis's stated red line.
On NATO, Tillis's position is likely to hold. The 2024 law requiring a two-thirds Senate vote creates a practical barrier that Trump cannot easily circumvent. But Trump has shown willingness to act unilaterally on foreign policy in ways courts have struggled to constrain, and the administration's posture toward alliance commitments — regardless of formal membership — has shifted substantially since the Iran war began.
Two red lines. Two fights. One senator without an election to lose — and the leverage of a committee seat and a constitutional requirement that Trump cannot simply ignore. The Tillis problem is not going away.