Tillis and Burr - and all Republicans - face a choice on Trump
Two weeks ago, Republican U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis told Charlotte Observer readers that he didn’t believe voters had given his party a mandate in the 2016 election. In a smart and pointed op-ed, he acknowledged that Republicans would do the country no good if they tried to ram through a “far-right, ideologically-driven agenda.”
This weekend, he had his first big opportunity to follow through on those words.
On Friday, President Donald Trump signed an executive order temporarily halting U.S. admission of all refugees and pausing the entry of visitors from seven predominantly Muslim countries. Trump also promised that Christians would get priority in admissions.
That is, for all practical purposes, a ban based on religion. It’s a dangerous and perhaps illegal policy, and it most certainly is not what this country stands for.
How did Tillis respond? With a sterile statement that tiptoed around the danger at hand. Tillis applauded the “tightening” of refugee screening, but noted “confusion” surrounding the order. “Implementation,” he said, should be “refined to provide more clarity.”
That was better, at least, than our state’s other Republican U.S. senator, Richard Burr, who was either too cautious or too cowed to tell his constituents what he thought of Trump’s order.
Fortunately, some Republicans were willing to say what’s at stake. Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, in a joint statement Sunday with Sen. John McCain of Arizona, cut to the core of Trump’s actions. “Our government has a responsibility to defend our borders, but we must do so in a way that makes us safer and upholds all that is decent and exceptional about our nation,” they wrote.
Others, from U.S. representatives to sports figures to Christian leaders, were similarly emphatic. (Said Catholic Cardinal Blase Cupich of Chicago: “This weekend proved to be a dark moment in U.S. history.”)
Tillis and Burr will have more opportunities – and soon – to find their voices. Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer and Democrats are contemplating legislation this week to stop the president’s refugee ban.
But North Carolina’s senators should realize something larger is happening under their watch. The refugee ban was not merely poorly conceived, but crafted with little if any consultation with Congress or the diplomatic and intelligence communities. Incredibly, the secretary of Homeland Security, Gen. John F. Kelly, was getting his first full briefing on the order Friday when he saw the president signing it on TV, the New York Times reported.
Perhaps even more troubling: Members of Trump’s Border Patrol defied judges’ orders over the weekend and didn’t allow attorneys to contact refugees being held in airports.
It’s time for all of our state’s congressional delegation – but especially its more powerful senators – to stand up not only to the refugee ban, but to the disregard for checks and balances we’re seeing in the president’s first 10 days. We’re fast approaching a time with this administration when there will be no fence to straddle, and our leaders will have to pick what kind of country they prefer to lead. They may be facing that decision already, whether they’re ready to say something about it or not.
This story was originally published January 30, 2017 at 11:23 AM with the headline "Tillis and Burr - and all Republicans - face a choice on Trump."