'The fever won't break': Ex-GOP senator reprimands Tillis for quitting

Former Republican Sen. Jeff Flake of Arizona took aim at his own party Sunday, criticizing what he described as its undying allegiance to President Donald Trump, whom he described in an op-ed as the GOP’s “North Star.”

“Extreme partisanship has infected both parties, but it plays out differently,” Flake said in an op-ed published in The New York Times.

“...Among Republicans, it’s become personality-driven, centered almost entirely on staying in lock step with the president. That’s an even more dangerous trajectory, because it divorces political allegiance from any stable set of principles. When a party’s North Star is an individual, the direction of policy and the integrity of governance itself suffer.”

Flake, who was a frequent critic of Trump during his one term in the Senate through 2019, also spoke highly of Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC), who last week announced his retirement from politics amid a public spat with Trump over the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Described as a moderate Republican, Tillis opposed the OBBBA, Trump’s signature budget reconciliation package, largely over its cuts to Medicaid.

While Flake praised Tillis for standing his ground, he also lamented his retirement as only strengthening Trump’s grip on the Republican Party.

“I admire Senator Tillis for choosing not to betray his convictions just to secure another term,” Flake said. “But his departure is a loss for the nation, the Senate and the Republican Party – indeed, for conservatism – which desperately needs more voices willing to stand on principle rather than bend to one man’s will.”

Flake announced his retirement during a speech on the Senate floor in 2017 and, at the time, spoke to what he considered a “fever” among the Republican Party, a fever that mandated GOP lawmakers act with “complete and unquestioning loyalty to President Trump.” While he hoped, at the time, that that fever may one day break, Tillus’ impending departure, Flake said, showed it had only grown stronger.

“Doing nothing – simply going along to get along – guarantees the fever won’t break anytime soon,” Flake said.

“It ensures that the loudest voices will keep drowning out those who would govern responsibly. The Senate and our country need more leaders willing to pay a political price to uphold what they know is right. In the long run, that is the only way this fever ends.”