Thom Tillis Calls Out Hegseth

Tuesday, May 19, 2026

Republican Senator Thom Tillis issued a warning to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth over reports that he plans to sideline another top general.

Posted by reinheitsgebot at 11:30 PM | 9 COMMENTS | permalink | Comment on This Entry |

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Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) unleashed a blistering rebuke of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, zeroing in on reports that Hegseth is trying to sideline Gen. Chris Donahue -- a decorated combat veteran with more than 20 deployments -- by downgrading U.S. Army Europe-Africa to a three-star command.

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-- Raw Story (@rawstory.com) 2:00 PM Â· May 18, 2026

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Another view ...

GOP senator blasts Hegseth for 'careless decision' on troop posture
thehill.com

... Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) offered harsh criticism for Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Saturday over reported changes at the Pentagon, including a shift in U.S. military posture around the globe and the exits of multiple senior military officers in recent months.

"The careless decision to reduce our force posture in Europe, along with moves by Pete Hegseth and his political henchmen to force out some of our finest general officers is amateur hour at best and deadly at worst," Tillis wrote on the social platform X. ...

[emphasis mine]

#1 | Posted by LampLighter at 2026-05-17 01:59 PM | Reply

Tillis is more critical than he has been in the past, but stil too careful about rocking the USS GOP Senate Capon Caucus, when what that rusty barge cries out for is a hard scuttling scuttling.

#2 | Posted by Doc_Sarvis at 2026-05-17 03:45 PM | Reply | Newsworthy 2

"Hegseth is trying to sideline General Chris Donahue, one of our nation's finest warfighters"

This is what I voted for.
--Boaz

#3 | Posted by snoofy at 2026-05-17 04:09 PM | Reply | Funny: 1 | Newsworthy 1

I get the argument Tillis advances about how he's somehow been somehow effective in achieving ... well, you can read his side of it at time.com which is actually a pretty interesting take. Mine, however, differs. Given that Tillis is not running again and this is his last year in the Senate, why not apply some serious accelerant to that wee tinder fire you keep barely alive in a corner? Light it up, get things going, make a good goddamn difference. Is that too much to ask?*

*(Rhetorical question)

#4 | Posted by Doc_Sarvis at 2026-05-17 04:27 PM | Reply | Newsworthy 1

I wonder what the betting websites are seeing of the question --- who gets canned first?

Sec Defense Hegseth or FBI Dir Patel?

#5 | Posted by LampLighter at 2026-05-17 08:00 PM | Reply

Pickled Pete wants to surround himself with yes men and imbeciles so he can feel at home

#6 | Posted by LegallyYourDead at 2026-05-18 11:22 AM | Reply

You' hope they're good st something, because winning wars really hasn't been much on the menu since 1945.

#7 | Posted by Doc_Sarvis at 2026-05-20 05:23 AM | Reply

Again, if Putin were sitting in the shadows in the White House, advising Trump, things would still be moving exactly as they are. Our military is being decimated, our alliances torn apart, and we Americans are being divided one from another. If all out war were to spark anywhere in the world, we Americans would be at a huge disadvantage thanks to Hegseth and Trump. MAGA, this is how America is made great again?

#8 | Posted by Hughmass at 2026-05-20 07:03 AM | Reply | Newsworthy 1

Tillis is such a disappointment. He's been a senator from my state for 11 years+ now and spent all but the last few months or so rubber stamping Republican extremism. He could have voted no on confirming Hegseth and saved us a lot of trouble but he lacked the spine.

#9 | Posted by qcp at 2026-05-20 08:46 AM | Reply | Newsworthy 1