Sen. Thom Tillis is throwing a wrench into Senate Republicans’ plans to move a major reconciliation package this week — and according to reports, his concern has less to do with the bill itself than with the political danger it could create for fellow Republican Sen. John Cornyn in Texas.
Axios reported that Tillis warned Republican colleagues “in unequivocal terms” that he would refuse to support the reconciliation bill if leadership forces a vote this week. His objections reportedly center on both timing and funding tied to President Donald Trump’s proposed White House ballroom project. But behind the scenes, Tillis is said to be increasingly alarmed about what the vote could mean for Cornyn’s increasingly shaky standing back home in Texas.
The Senate is still expected to push ahead. Republican leaders reportedly plan to move the bill out of committee Wednesday and bring it to the floor Thursday, setting up a marathon “vote-a-rama” process where Democrats can force politically uncomfortable amendment votes. That timing would likely keep Cornyn trapped in Washington just days before his May 26 Republican runoff against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.
Tillis reportedly believes that could be disastrous.
According to Axios, the North Carolina Republican is “fuming” over the recent primary defeat of Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy and sees parallels forming around Cornyn. Tillis reportedly warned colleagues that forcing Cornyn to stay in D.C. instead of campaigning in Texas could further weaken him against Paxton, who has spent months hammering Cornyn as an establishment Republican disconnected from the GOP base.
The concern is not theoretical. A recent University of Houston Hobby School poll found Paxton leading Cornyn 48 percent to 45 percent among likely Republican runoff voters, with seven percent undecided. The same survey showed Paxton carrying stronger favorability numbers among GOP voters.
Paxton’s campaign has aggressively targeted Cornyn’s past comments on immigration and border policy, particularly remarks suggesting some illegal immigrants could eventually receive legal status allowing them to remain and work in the United States. One campaign ad replayed Cornyn dismissing the idea of a massive border wall “from sea to shining sea” before ending with the line: “Cornyn: good for illegals, bad for Texans.”
Those attacks are rooted in years of bipartisan immigration discussions that continue to haunt Cornyn with conservative voters.
Back in 2022, Cornyn joined Tillis, Sen. Alex Padilla, and Sen. Dick Durbin in talks aimed at crafting immigration legislation capable of winning bipartisan support. At the time, Tillis openly discussed pursuing broader negotiations involving immigration reform, DACA protections, border security, and asylum reform.
Cornyn’s history on DACA has also resurfaced repeatedly during the campaign. In 2020, he declared on the Senate floor that DACA recipients “deserve a permanent, legislative solution” and argued Congress should allow them to stay in “the only home they’ve ever known.”
Now, with Texas Republican voters increasingly demanding hardline positions on immigration, those comments have become political ammunition.