Senator Thom Tillis rejects Trump’s ‘big, beautiful bill’ over state funding concerns

WASHINGTON, D.C. (WITN) - Republican Senator Thom Tillis announced his opposition to President Donald Trump’s “one big, beautiful bill”, saying it would result in funding loss for North Carolina.

Tillis says the decision came after Senate leaders of his party presented the bill and he analyzed what the impact would be on the people he swore an oath to represent.

“I will always do what is in the best interest of North Carolina, even when that puts me at odds with my own party,” Tillis said in a statement Saturday.

According to Tillis, he can’t support the bill in its current form as it would result in tens of billions of dollars in lost funding for North Carolina, including in hospitals and rural communities.

“This will force the state to make painful decisions like eliminating Medicaid coverage for hundreds of thousands in the expansion population, and even reducing critical services for those in the traditional Medicaid population,” Tillis said.

He went on to say that while there is a lot for North Carolinians to love about the rest of the One Big Beautiful Bill, including extending the historic Trump Tax Cuts, increasing the child tax credit, providing historic funding for border security, and ending wasteful spending, it must be accomplished without hurting rural communities and hospitals, and without jeopardizing access to care.

Tillis says the Senate should return to the House’s Medicaid approach, as that plan includes reforms to address waste, fraud, and abuse, and implements work requirements for some able-bodied adults to ensure taxpayer-funded benefits are going to our most vulnerable neighbors.

“We can and must do better than this,” Tillis said.