NEW DSCC AD: Tillis Puts Even More Military Funds at Risk After Losing More than $80 Million for North Carolina
Tillis’ “Olympic gold flip-flop” allowed the president to raid money from North Carolina military construction projects, now he’s refusing to prevent another cash grab
Pentagon documents revealed that “lives would be put at risk” if many of these projects were not funded
Following spineless Senator Thom Tillis’ vote today to put even more funding for North Carolina military construction projects at risk, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee is launching a new digital ad campaign on Facebook holding him accountable for failing to stand up for North Carolina’s military communities.
North Carolina has already lost more than $80 million to the Trump administration’s reckless cash grab, making it “one of the hardest hit” states. Yet Senator Tillis has brushed off “dire” warnings from the Pentagon, calling the massive raid on critical military construction funding a “short-term distraction.” Now, the Washington Post reports that officials are again considering diverting even more funds away from military projects across the country.
“Senator Tillis helped pave the way for this harmful raid on critical military construction funding with his ‘Olympic gold flip-flop,’ and he just voted again to uphold this bogus emergency declaration and allow the Trump administration to keep diverting money away from North Carolina military communities that desperately need it,” said DSCC spokesperson Stewart Boss. “Even as the White House threatens to claw away more money from North Carolina, Tillis is so craven that he voted to double down on enabling this reckless cash grab. Our new ad campaign will continue to hold spineless Senator Thom Tillis accountable for failing North Carolina military communities and refusing to stand up for his state’s servicemembers.”
Read more about spineless Senator Thom Tillis’ failure to put North Carolina first:
- Fayetteville Observer Editorial: “The Trump Administration is grabbing money from the U.S. military budget, including funds designated for Fort Bragg, to help pay for the wall along the Southern border with Mexico. Tillis meekly acquiesced in the money grab… The hit to our state’s military installations is $80 million, based on a list of cuts submitted earlier this month by the Pentagon.”
- Greensboro News & Record Editorial: “The loss of funds could also hurt Tillis, who is up for re-election next year, and who in March voted to support the dubious emergency declaration that Trump is using to justify his raid on military construction funds… North Carolina won’t be the only state suffering because of Trump’s tantrum, but it’s one of the hardest hit.”
- Charlotte Observer Editorial: “The $80 million in N.C. cuts were more than in any other state with a GOP senator facing reelection in 2020. Trump’s wall already was the source of one of the senator’s weakest moments… Now that decision will doubly haunt him.”
- USA Today Editorial: “Apparently, the president has an expansive view of Mexico. An ambulatory care center at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina is, in his view, part of Mexico… Taking military construction funds to finance a project that Mexico was supposed to pay for is an abuse of power and an insult to America’s service members.”
- Washington Post: “at Camp Lejeune, N.C. …medical and dental care is provided in ‘substandard, inefficient, decentralized and uncontrolled facilities,’ according to the military, which has sought congressional approval to build a new ambulatory care center on the base. Not doing so ‘will result in compromised readiness, uncoordinated care delivery, and inappropriate use of medical resources,’ the Pentagon said.”
- CNBC: Tillis “could face political backlash as the Trump administration will transfer a major chunk of change out of the state: $80 million from three sites.”
- Wall Street Journal: “Mr. Tillis’s initial effort to buck the president on the emergency declaration for the wall quickly collapsed after broad opposition from Republicans in his state. While he reversed himself and ultimately came out in support of the emergency declaration, the skepticism was costly, spurring primary challengers to enter the race.”
- HuffPost: “Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), who initially opposed Trump’s emergency declaration but reversed himself just hours before the March vote, said he still stands with the president on the matter… ‘It’s not like we’re talking about it still being at risk,’ Tillis argued to HuffPost, referring to the diverted money.”
- The Hill: “Hurricane-ravaged bases in Florida, North Carolina and Puerto Rico are among the military sites that will lose funds… The list includes projects in states represented by Republican senators who voted in support of Trump’s emergency declaration. Those include Thom Tillis (N.C.), whose state has three projects on the list worth a combined $80 million”
- National Journal: “Sen. Thom Tillis’s home state of North Carolina will lose $47.3 million in deferred construction, largely from projects at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune.”
- MSNBC: Morning Joe: “I would like to be running against Thom Tillis in North Carolina, either in the Republican primary or against him in the fall, and please explain to me, Senator Tillis, why you allowed $80 million to be diverted from people who really serve our country… he just stole $80 million from your state! How weak are you?”
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