Thom Tillis

DES MOINES, Iowa — A week after President-elect Donald Trump’s victory, Elon Musk said his political action committee would “play a significant role in primaries.”

Patty Morin holds a picture of her daughter, Rachel, who was allegedly killed by undocumented immigrant in Maryland in 2023, during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing Tuesday.

Tech billionaire Elon Musk and conservative activist Vivek Ramaswamy on Thursday began in-person discussions with congressional Republicans about ways they could slash federal spending and regulations once President-elect Donald Trump takes office.Trump has tasked Musk and Ramaswamy with issuing recommendations to overhaul the federal budget and bureaucracy — a goal that many Republicans say they agree with, but also one that presidents and Congresses under both parties, as well as divided governments, have repeatedly failed to deliver on.Musk and Ramaswamy traveled to Capitol Hill for a series of meetings with House and Senate members. It was their first such trip since their appointment by Trump as outside advisers, heading up a commission called the Department of Government Efficiency. DOGE is also the name of an internet meme and a cryptocurrency.“This is a brainstorming session,” House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., told reporters between meetings. He said the talks are “laying the groundwork” for what lawmakers will do next year.They have their work cut out for them.Trump oversaw an increase in deficits during his first term, even before the Covid-19 pandemic. In his 2024 campaign, he promised to preserve two of the most expensive parts of the budget — Social Security and Medicare — beyond “cutting waste and fraud.” He also called for trillions of dollars in additional tax breaks on tips and overtime, in addition to extending his 2017 tax cuts, which would all add to the debt. And most congressional Republicans are determined to continue increasing military spending, another large slice of the pie.Musk, one of the world’s wealthiest people, has potential leverage over congressional Republicans because of his willingness to spend some of his vast fortune on politics, and his recent proximity to Trump. As recently as Sunday, the Tesla and SpaceX CEO has repeatedly warned Republicans to get in line behind Trump’s priorities or else face a primary challenge in 2026.Great @DOGE meeting with @elonmusk, @VivekGRamaswamy, @SpeakerJohnson, and X-Æ-12 pic.twitter.com/WRXQoz7MGY— Mike Lee (@BasedMikeLee) December 5, 2024 Officially, though, the roles for Musk and Ramaswamy are only advisory. They won’t be in the government and instead will be sending recommendations to the Trump White House, with a deadline of July 4, 2026.Musk’s newfound political influence follows his campaigning for Trump over the summer and fall. His super PAC, America PAC, spent more than $152 million to boost Trump and other Republicans, with much of the money coming from Musk and his friends, according to disclosure reports filed with the Federal Election Commission. Musk also held events for Trump in swing state Pennsylvania and turned X, which he owns, into a megaphone for pro-Trump views.Ramaswamy, a former biotech executive, ran in the Republican primary for president and lost to Trump before later endorsing him.Musk has repeatedly faced questions about potential conflicts of interest in advising on the federal budget. SpaceX is a major federal contractor, including with the Defense Department and NASA. And, according to Ramaswamy, one of their potential targets is a $6.6 billion loan to electric vehicle maker Rivian Automotive, a competitor to Tesla. Musk has not said how or if he plans to resolve those conflicts.One lawmaker, Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., said Thursday it was too early to anticipate the priorities for cuts but that loosening regulation by administrative action and through Congress would be a good place to start.“There are tens of billions of dollars in regulatory relief that are on the table now,” Tillis said.The U.S. budget was $6.1 trillion in fiscal year 2023, according to the Peterson Foundation.Still, Tillis called the Thursday conversation an “organizational meeting” — akin to “an engagement meeting I’d have with a client.”Speaking to reporters in between meetings, Musk reiterated his support for ending tax credits to encourage electric vehicle sales, aligning with Republicans who are eying cuts to clean energy funding.“I think we should get rid of all credits,” he said in response to a reporter’s question about tax credits for electric vehicles. (Musk has previously said that EV credits help Tesla’s competitors.)Musk said little else as he walked through the Capitol’s corridors with one of his children. The billionaire was followed so closely by Capitol Hill reporters, he said, “It’s like there’s ambient press.”Once DOGE is established, Musk and Ramaswamy will have a small office of 10 to 12 staffers under the executive office of the president who will work closely with the Office of Management and Budget, a source involved in the effort told NBC News.They will also have individuals within each federal department and agency who operate as DOGE liaisons, the source said. Musk and Ramaswamy are seeking individuals with business backgrounds with an interest in “gutting bureaucracy” to fill those roles. “A lot of these folks will be lawyers or have previous experience at that agency,” the source said.Musk has shown a willingness to consider cuts to some of the federal government’s most popular programs including Social Security. On Monday, he shared a post on X from Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, advocating an overhaul of Social Security into something like individual retirement accounts. “Interesting thread,” Musk wrote.Thursday morning, Musk met with incoming Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., while Ramaswamy met separately behind closed doors with a group of 15 Senate Republicans for a little over an hour. In the afternoon, they met with a larger group of House and Senate members.Leaving the meeting with Ramaswamy, senators told NBC News that it was a positive conversation and consisted of an “exchanging of ideas,” as Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., and Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., put it. But they would not divulge specific policies discussed inside.A source familiar with the private meeting in the afternoon told NBC News that the gathering turned into an “open mic session” featuring “an airing of grievances from House members who want Elon and Vivek to solve all their problems.”Some Democrats have expressed interest in working with Musk and Ramaswamy to reduce spending and regulations. Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., posted on X on Thursday that Congress should model its efforts on a World War II-era committee led by then-Sen. Harry Truman.“Let’s look to the Truman Committee and ensure Americans get their money’s worth with DOD spending,” he wrote.While GOP efforts to reduce the size of the federal government and end wasteful spending are not new, senators did not offer much in terms of how this effort would be different or possibly more successful.“You’re way too ahead,” Tillis said when asked about budget deficits.Leaving the meeting, Ramaswamy also declined to answer reporters’ questions.In the 2024 election, Republicans won a 53-vote Senate majority and a paper-thin House majority of 220-215. Those slim margins could give Democrats some influence over the outcome, and some of them mock the new Musk-led effort as a punchline.“DOGE is not real. Just because someone says there is now a department of so and so does not mean the actual department now exists,” said Rep. Brendan Boyle, D-Pa., the ranking member of the Budget Committee.“Republicans are total hypocrites when it comes to deficit and debt. ... Trump added more to the national debt than any president in American history,” Boyle continued. “So I have seen this movie before. I have absolutely no doubt that if Trump is able to ram through a second round of his tax cuts, then it will explode the national debt.”Veterans of past failed debt-reform efforts, including the Obama-era bipartisan “super committee” of 2011, doubt the DOGE will be more successful unless it’s willing to take on sacred cows.“If past is prologue, the DOGE faces an uphill climb. It’s not yet clear what authority or reach the DOGE has, but managing the federal budget cannot be done through talking points,” said Zach Mallove, a lobbyist who worked as a policy aide to Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., when she co-chaired the super committee.Mallove said lawmakers will have to accept some “political pain” for it to be meaningful. “In the end, the math just doesn’t add up: with a $1.7 trillion annual discretionary budget, you cannot cut $2 trillion without tapping into the country’s social safety net.”This article first appeared on NBCNews.com. Read more from NBC News here:Family of Missouri teen who fell to his death on Orlando free-fall ride gets $310 million verdictEx-Proud Boys Leader dodges questions at trial of officer charged with feeding him intelHouse votes against releasing Matt Gaetz ethics report for now

'Gabbard has been subject to personal attacks'

The two offered little insight into their project, though Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) said the two would be keeping a "naughty list" of certain lawmakers.

7 GOP Senators Most Likely To Stand Between Trump And His Dream Cabinet

Lawmakers met with Trump appointees Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy on Capitol Hill to discuss the framework for President-elect Trump's soon-to-be formed Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

Democrats need to flip four Senate seats in 2026 to reclaim a majority, but have few clear targets.

In this year’s Senate elections, Democrats won over 2 million more votes than Republicans but still lost their majority. So much for democracy. The Senate is famously biased toward the GOP, and with less ticket-splitting these days, that leaves Democrats with quite the hole to climb out of.But there is a ladder back to the majority, even if it’s a tall one.

Federal district judges in North Carolina and Ohio decided not to seek semi-retired status after Trump won last month.

Then-candidate Donald Trump in September promised that he would sign legislation to grant federal recognition to the Lumbee Tribe.

WASHINGTON — Sen.-elect Jim Justice knew that his canine companion, Babydog, would not be allowed on the Senate floor, but much of the rest of the Capitol building is dog-friendly — and has been for years.

The race for key Senate contests in 2026 is already getting underway, with a few major potential candidates hinting they may join the race. Republicans won back control of the Senate in the 2024 elections in early November, picking up four seats for a 53-47 majority in the body, the largest margin for either party [...]

When Kamala Harris and Donald Trump campaigned in North Carolina, both candidates courted a state-recognized tribe there whose 55,000 members could have helped tip the swing state.

"The Senate must take its advice and consent role seriously if the balance of power is to be preserved."

Republicans are signaling a quick confirmation process for President-elect Donald Trump's Cabinet in 2025.

The head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency says money available to help communities hit by disasters has shrunk after back-to-back hurricanes Helene and Milton.

President-elect Trump is demanding that Senate Republicans show up and try to stop Democrats from confirming more judges. Why it matters: President Biden is now 15 judicial confirmations away from the record set by Trump in his first term. Trump posted Wednesday on "X": "The Democrats are trying to stack the Courts with Radical Left Judges on their way out the door. Republican Senators need to Show Up and Hold the Line — No more Judges confirmed before Inauguration Day!"Democrats confirmed two more judges on Wednesday by 50-48 margins, with Republican Sens. Ted Cruz (Texas) and Mike Braun (Indiana) missing the votes.If they'd voted, Vice President Harris would have been unavailable to break the 50-50 tie as she's currently vacationing in Hawaii."I am very angry – 90% of success in life is showing up," Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) told reporters."I've got a 4th Circuit nominee that if my colleagues show up on my side I've secured Democratic votes to defeat. That is very personal to me," he said."I had a member ask me, 'Well, when is the vote?' I said, 'When you're not here,'" Tillis told reporters.Zoom in: Senate Republicans, including incoming Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) are in a showdown over judges with outgoing Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.).Thune unveiled a plan Monday to aggressively defend against Biden's final nominees, Axios has reported.Schumer is prepared to grind through that defense with late night and weekend votes.

Knives are out for the vice president-elect as JD Vance’s fellow Republican senators trash him for skipping out on confirmation votes for President Joe Biden's judicial nominees.Even though Republicans are currently in the Senate minority, the party is trying to block Biden's nominees by slowing down the confirmation process in order to run out the clock and keep Biden from filling vacancies on the federal bench. As of Tuesday, the Senate has confirmed 217 of Biden’s picks, with 44 vacancies, according to CBS News. If Biden fills them all, he’ll have gotten more judges onto the federal bench than Donald Trump did in his first term in office. But Vance, along with a handful of other Senate Republicans, have been absent from the chamber, leaving the GOP without a sufficient number of votes to achieve their goal of slow-rolling the process and blocking confirmations.“If we don’t show up, we lose,” Republican Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina told The Hill. “I don’t care what the reasons were. We have fewer than 15 scheduled legislative days. You have to show up. Period. End of story. There’s nothing more important.”"This leftist judge would have been voted down and the seat on the important 11th circuit would have been filled by Donald Trump next year had Republicans showed up,” Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis wrote in a post on X, referring to Monday’s confirmation of Embry J. Kidd. “Now, the leftist judge will have a lifetime appointment and the people of FL, AL and GA will suffer the consequences.”On Tuesday, even Trump seemingly lashed out at Vance and other Republicans who didn't show. (Of course, at least two Republican senators were with Trump at a rocket launch for pal Elon Musk's company.)“The Democrats are trying to stack the Courts with Radical Left Judges on their way out the door. Republican Senators need to Show Up and Hold the Line — No more Judges confirmed before Inauguration Day!” Trump wrote in a post on his Truth Social platform.

Senate Republicans aired frustrations on Tuesday after Vice President-elect Vance and other party members skipped votes on Monday, greasing the skids for Democratic-backed judicial nominees to be green-lighted as part of a final push to fill the bench with lifetime appointees before President-elect Trump takes office. Republicans on Monday attempted to slow down an effort [...]

President-elect Trump is rounding out his administration with Cabinet picks, but there are several GOP senators whose votes could prove decisive in rejecting some nominations.

A look at who has declined to express support for Gaetz, Kennedy, Gabbard and Hegseth.

The state Supreme Court had earlier rejected an appeals court ruling that not counting undated ballots in a special election violated the state constitution.

In North Carolina, Republicans managed to flip three congressional seats from Democrat to Republican. This success was partly due to redrawn district maps.

“There’s going to need to be billions, billions of dollars coming from the state and federal government to recover," said NC Gov. Roy Cooper.

Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) officially rolled out his bid to run the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) on Friday, a move that would put him at the helm of the party’s midterm efforts to maintain and possibly grow its majority next cycle. Scott had been mulling a run for the post since mid-October. He is [...]

Only a few Republican senators have publicly endorsed a candidate. Many say they are still undecided.

Republicans believe that they are in prime shape to win at least 52 seats in the Senate with only days to go until Election Day. The GOP has long been favored to win back the upper chamber, but the size of its majority has been in question as the party’s candidates trailed against Democratic incumbents in [...]

On Oct. 15, the United States Small Business Administration (SBA) announced they ran out of disaster funds after Hurricane Helene.

Scott wants to be Senate GOP leader. Apparently that involves cozying up to a racist activist who called the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks “an inside job.”

Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., speaks during a campaign rally with Derek Merrin, Republican candidate for Ohio’s 9th Congressional District, in Holland, Ohio, on Oct. 26.

Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) — an ally of Minority Leader Mitch McConnell — hit back at conservatives' demands for a new brand of leadership once McConnell steps down in a letter to colleagues Tuesday morning.Why it matters: The leader race between Sens. John Thune (R-S.D.), John Cornyn (R-Tex.) and Rick Scott (R-Fla.) is heating up, with the general election three weeks away. Some conservative senators are hoping to leverage a tight race for big changes in how the chamber operates. Sen. Mike Lee's (R-Utah) proposals, which he outlined in a letter to colleagues last week, include assurances of more amendment votes and delaying the timeline for picking McConnell's replacement.And Lee has taken new public shots at McConnell's leadership approach.Tills responded Tuesday, saying he believes Lee's concerns are "sincere," but that delaying the leadership election is a bad idea. He said Lee's proposals would "substantially weaken the republican leader."Between the lines: The only leadership candidate to clearly embrace the changes conservatives are pushing is Scott — who Senators and Hill sources have said doesn't have much of a shot.What they're saying: Tillis then made a dig at Republican House chaos. "We are witnessing the downside of a weak-leader model in the House today," he wrote."Two Speakers during a single congress and self-imposed gridlock on legislation hardly seems like a model we want to adopt in the Senate.""I believe delaying the election and creating more hurdles for the republican leader to navigate are unwise, and they will impede our work on behalf of the American people," Tillis said.The other side: "Why would a Republican senator continue to support a system where legislation can be presented for passage without the approval of the majority of the conference? Or one that denies our ability to do our jobs as representatives of our states," Lee responded in a statement to Axios.Catch up quick: This isn't the first back-and-forth between Tillis and Lee over the leadership race. Back in June, Lee and other conservatives were pushing for a new leadership structure — including imposing term limits. Tillis blasted those ideas in a letter, which then prompted a response from Lee.McConnell has also been adamantly against term limits.E

North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis (R) on Tuesday circulated a “Dear Colleague” letter warning that some of the reforms being pushed by Senate conservatives would only weaken the next Senate Republican leader and cause the same chaos that is plaguing the House Republican majority. Tillis released his letter in response to a list of procedural [...]

Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) is seriously considering making a run to become chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) in 2026, sources told The Hill. Two Senate GOP sources told The Hill that Scott started making calls to senators over the weekend about a possible bid to lead Senate Republicans' campaign arm. "It’s his if [...]

Kamala Harris is racing against lost time to flip the red state of North Carolina. Donald Trump is combating a Democratic operation that dwarfs his.

Hurricane Helene caused catastrophic damage from Florida into the Appalachian mountains and killed more than 225 people across multiple states.

The response to Hurricane Helene's devastating landfall last month has been hampered by a slew of conspiracy theories and rapidly spreading misinformation about federal assistance to hard-hit communities, as an election year tragedy is swept into political discourseMeanwhile, the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol continues to be a defining moment in American politics — and former President Trump's legal battles — more than three years later. Here's what you may have missed when newsmakers hit the airwaves this Sunday, Oct. 6. 1. FEMA administrator: Post-storm conspiracies are "truly dangerous" FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell discusses Hurricane Helene response efforts on ABC's "This Week" on Oct. 6.Conspiracy theories spiraling online in the wake of Hurricane Helene, which left more than 200 people dead across six states, are stoking fear among those affected by the storm and employees on the ground, FEMA administrator Deanne Criswell said Sunday. The conspiracies are spreading as another storm, Hurricane Milton, is forecast to hit Florida in coming days. The big picture: Several false narratives have been amplified by Republican politicians, including former President Trump, who has highlighted baseless "reports" of bias against Republicans affected by the storm in North Carolina and argued his Democratic opponent Vice President Kamala Harris diverted FEMA funds to housing illegal immigrants.Trump claimed at a campaign stop Thursday that the Biden administration "stole" FEMA money "so they could give it to their illegal immigrants that they want to have vote for them."He also contended FEMA is only offering $750 to Helene victims. But that $750 offer is through just one type of relief payment, Serious Needs Assistance, which is upfront aid that can be approved shortly after an application, not the total amount a victim may ultimately receive.Trump isn't solely responsible for the misinformation about FEMA disaster relief funds, which have been shared widely online — including by billionaire Elon Musk, who's backing Trump this election.Zoom out: Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas told reporters Wednesday that while FEMA is meeting "immediate needs" and can support recovery from the present disaster, it does not have the funds to make it through the rest of hurricane season.But he and other officials have emphasized that the agency does have the resources to cover the current crisis.Total economic losses from Helene could rise to around $35 billion, experts say.Follow the money: As part of a short-term continuing resolution, Congress recently provided $20 billion to the FEMA disaster relief fund. But the agency has been dependent on an unstable source of funding amid stopgap limbo, Mayorkas said.The agency announced Sunday the federal assistance provided to survivors had surpassed $137 million.Reality check: While FEMA does provide immigration-related aid, that funding is separate from disaster relief.The Shelter and Services Program, which supports communities providing humanitarian services to migrants and is administered in partnership with U.S. Customs and Border Protection, is an entirely different fund. Congress appropriated a total of $650 million for the program in fiscal year 2024, whereas the separate disaster relief fund totals tens of billions of dollars."FEMA's disaster response efforts and individual assistance is funded through the Disaster Relief Fund, which is a dedicated fund for disaster efforts," the agency said in a statement Thursday on its "Rumor Response" webpage. "Disaster Relief Fund money has not been diverted to other, non-disaster related efforts."What they're saying: "It's just a shame that people are sitting home on their comfortable couches, while we have thousands of people here on the ground that have left their own families to be able to help those in need," Criswell said on ABC's "This Week" of those amplifying false claims, which she slammed as "frankly ridiculous."The rumors are "a distraction" impeding response efforts, North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis (R) said on CBS News' "Face the Nation," noting many "observations are not even from people on the ground."Asked about the Trump's contention about FEMA funds, Tillis criticized the Biden-Harris administration's border policies but said, "Right now, not yet, is it affecting the flow of resources to Western North Carolina," adding the state has the resources it needs.RNC co-chair Lara Trump, who is from North Carolina, clashed with CNN's Dana Bash over the rumors Sunday, repeatedly pointing to the unrelated migrant crisis when pressed about her father-in-law's comments. "My question is about the misinformation, particularly the notion that they are moving money to migrants ... which FEMA says flatly is not true," Bash said.Lara Trump responded, "You have migrants being housed in luxury hotels in New York City," arguing money could be redirected to disaster aid — but that fund is a separate, congressionally appropriated program."That has nothing to do with the people in your home state right now," Bash replied. The Trump campaign did not immediately respond to Axios' request for comment.2. Jan. 6 takes spotlight one month till Election Day House Speaker Mike Johnson speaks during an interview on ABC's "This Week" on Oct. 6.Former President Trump's actions around the Jan. 6 insurrection and repeated false 2020 election claims gained fresh urgency this week.State of play: A judge unsealed special counsel Jack Smith's recent, hefty filing Wednesday containing new evidence in his federal election interference case against Trump that's been on ice due to the Supreme Court's ruling on presidential immunity.Per the filing, when he was told Vice President Mike Pence had to be evacuated from the Capitol, Trump said "So what?"Trump allies and a former federal prosecutor have condemned the release of information so close to Election Day, as early voting has already begun, with Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AK) calling it "a temper tantrum."What they're saying: "I think this is a ridiculous ploy, of course," Lara Trump told CNN's Dana Bash during "State of the Union," referencing Smith's filing."The January 6 situation has been amplified to a level that I don't think is almost believable to so many people right now," Lara Trump added, shifting the conversation to voters' affordability concerns.Lara Trump said the former president would "of course" accept the results of "a free, fair, and transparent election."Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Ca.), the leading candidate for California's Senate seat, said Smith's filing "reaffirmed ... what we know about Trump" in an appearance on NBC's "Meet the Press."When asked about the comparisons to then-FBI Director James Comey's Oct. 2016 announcement of a reopened probe into Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton's emails, Schiff claimed the situations were different."Because what you have there was the director of the FBI unilaterally making a decision to talk about an open investigation ... that is a very different circumstance than a court filing made under seal," he told NBC's Kristen Welker.Zoom out: On who won the 2020 election, House speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) refused to say either way when pressed during ABC's "This Week" with George Stephanopoulos.Stephanopoulos referenced Sen. JD Vance's (R-Ohio) similar refusal during the vice presidential debate on Tuesday. When Vance downplayed Trump's role in the Jan. 6 attack, his opponent Gov. Tim Walz accused him of "revisionist history.""It's a gotcha game," Johnson told George Stephanopoulos, accusing "mainstream media" of playing it with Republicans. "You want us to litigate things that happened four years ago when we're talking about future. We're not going to talk about what happened in 2020. We're going to talk about 2024."He sidestepped the question, while affirming he has worked with President Biden for the last four years.3. Foreign misinformation threats deepen Sen. Mark Kelly speaks during an Oct. 6 interview on CBS News' "Face the Nation."Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), a member of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, warned of "significant" efforts from foreign actors to influence American voters ahead of November's election. By the numbers: Kelly estimated that the odds a political comment or post on social media was made by a foreign actor — even if that poster appears to be a U.S. citizen — are in "the 20 to 30% range."Specifically, Kelly said, the bulk of those posts come from the triple disinformation threat of Russia, China and Iran.Asked if Arizonians had been exposed to targeted information operations, Kelly told CBS News' Margaret Brennan the threat is spread across battleground states that will be key to the outcome of the 2024 election. What he's saying: "It's up to us, the people who serve in Congress and in the White House, to get the information out there that there is a tremendous amount of misinformation in this election and it's not going to stop on November 5," he said. Flashback: Last month, several headlines about Russian disinformation and influence campaigns targeting the Harris campaign, as well as an Iranian effort to hack the Trump campaign, underscored the ongoing risk of foreign interference present throughout modern elections.More from Axios' Sunday coverage:Walz defends Minnesota abortion policy in first interview as VP nomineeOne year after Oct. 7 attacks, Netanyahu is on a winning streakHow Harris is getting Trump-y on immigration

The number of deaths from Hurricane Helene stood at 227 on Saturday and is still climbing, officials say.

Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina said more resources are needed in parts of the state hit hardest by Hurricane Helene.

Republican Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina tells "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan" that in evaluating damage from Hurricane Helene in the western part of his state that "the scope of this storm is more like Katrina."

The following is a transcript of an interview with Sen. Thom Tillis, Republican of North Carolina, on "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan" that aired on Oct. 6, 2024.

This week on "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan," as the world prepares to mark one year since the Hamas attack on Israel, Margaret Brennan speaks to UNICEF executive director Catherine Russell. Plus, Republican Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina joins.

Senators are privately (and publicly) saying they hope Donald Trump stays out of the internal election to replace Mitch McConnell as Senate GOP leader.Why it matters: None of them know — or it's a damn good secret — whether the former president will make an endorsement. But senators and advisors fear a Trump intervention could turn the secret ballot leader election into a public feud."I said, 'Sir, if I was you, I would stay out of the race, because there's no win for you in this,'" Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) told us about a recent call with Trump."I hope not," said Sen. Thom Tillis, when asked if he thinks Trump will weigh in. "I think outside influence could be problematic.""He's offered some views on it to me," Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) told us. "It's safe to say he has a pretty consistent prediction of who he thinks it'll be." Hawley said he did not know if Trump would weigh in.Between the lines: This the first real competitive Senate GOP leadership race of the Trump-era, and his endorsement carries a lot of weight with a growing segment of the conference.McConnell has had a tumultuous relationship with the former president.The top two candidates — Sens. John Thune and John Cornyn — each have had rocky relationships with Trump. However, they have worked to make amends.After Jan. 6, Thune denounced Trump and initially endorsed Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) for president. Cornyn has said the GOP needed to move on from Trump.Senate sources do not talk about Sen. Rick Scott's (R-Fla.) bid as seriously as Thune's or Cornyn's, though he has a good relationship with Trump. "Sen. Scott is focused on dramatically changing the way the Senate operates and creating a member-driven process," according to spokesperson McKinley Lewis.Sources often describe Thune as the likely favorite, though they say not to discount how much Cornyn's long history of hard-dollar fundraising for Senate campaigns means to people.Cornyn told us it's been a few weeks since he spoke with Trump about the leadership race. But he visited Mar-a-Lago a couple months ago "to talk about planning for the future," adding they've been "visiting with some of the transition folks."Mullin said Trump "likes" Thune despite their rocky past. The Oklahoma Republican has publicly backed Thune.Some sources suspect there could be a late entry: NRSC Chair Steve Daines (R-Mont.) is the most-floated name.The bottom line: There's not a lot of incentive for senators benefiting from both Thune and Cornyn's aggressive fundraising efforts to commit too early."If one of them felt that they really had a majority, I think they would not be shy about saying that, but I don't think anybody does," Hawley said.

Republicans could pass both a health care overhaul that would replace Obamacare and extend Trump tax breaks in one bill if they win Congress and the White House.

There’s a delicate balancing act unfolding in North Carolina’s 1st Congressional District — a battleground district in a battleground state, and one of the few toss-up congressional races across the Southeast.

Many Republicans have sought to distance themselves from the candidate amid the latest controversy.