WASHINGTON – Sen. Tom Tillis, RN.C., strongly criticized Pete Hegses in an interview, saying that the Secretary of Defense “is out of his depth” in his role in overseeing the National Army, and that his decision to halt the shipment of weapons to Ukraine was “amateur.”
Tillis recently announced he would not be reelection next year after opposing the GOP domestic policy bill, but spoke to CNN on Wednesday about his decision to support Hegseth’s nomination after a controversial confirmation process in January, including allegations of alcohol abuse and sexual assault on Hegseth.
Tillis said he decided to vote to confirm Hegzes despite having initial reservations on the allegations as “there are no examples of treaty accounts.” Hegseth denied the fraud, confirmed 51-50, and Vice President JD Vance had to tear his tie.
“I think it’s clear now that over time he’s coming out of his depth as a manager of a large, complicated organization,” he said in an interview.
Tillis suggested that Republicans on the Senate Armed Service Committee were charity in Hegus’ views, and made it clear that he trusted the panel’s decision as he served it in previous Congress.
“Based on the facts of the time, I don’t regret the decision at the time,” Tillis said. “But today I’m beginning to think that perhaps the armed services were a bit generous in terms of his assessment of his capabilities as manager of the world’s largest, most complicated, and undoubtedly consequential organization.”
When asked if he would vote for Hegses again today, Tillis said, “Based on the information I have, if what I had was information about the day of votes, I would certainly vote for him again.”
However, he appears to be critical of Hegses’ role in the signal chat fiasco and his recent move to halt the shipment of weapons to Ukraine, calling it “amateur.” President Donald Trump claimed he had no idea about his decision to suspend them and called for them to resume.
In response to comment Thursday, Pentagon reporter Kingsley Wilson said “I hope he is well in his future retirement.”
The senator also recalls voting for Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s health and welfare secretary, saying he supported him because he said Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La).
Tillis spoke freely about other issues in the Trump administration, including Trump’s White House advisors.
“I have no problem with President Trump. I have had problems with some of the people I consider to be amateurs and have advised him,” he said. “So I want to make it very clear to them, you act like a president when he leaves the room, you don’t impress me. And they’ll hear more of it in the next few months.”
