Republican senator denounces Trump’s ‘big, beautiful bill’ in fiery speech

Thom Tillis also announces he won’t seek re-election after opposing Medicaid cuts in proposed budget bill

“It is inescapable this bill will betray the promise Donald Trump made,” Thom Tillis, the North Carolina Republican senator, said Sunday night, sandblasting the Senate version of the “big, beautiful bill” that is meant to codify the president’s agenda.

Thillis made his speech on the Senate floor on Sunday night, a few hours after announcing he would not seek re-election in politically competitive North Carolina. Observers described it as “fiery” and “savage”. But Tillis carefully avoided direct criticism of the president as he denounced proposed cuts to Medicaid, a lack of rigor in the legislative process and the Senate’s headlong drive to an artificial deadline.