This story is republished from NOTUS.
Sen. Thom Tillis is holding up Mississippi’s nominations for federal judgeships and U.S. attorneys because he wants Sen. Roger Wicker to help an indigenous group in North Carolina gain federal recognition as a tribe.
Tillis, a Republican, told NOTUS that his block on four Mississippi nominees is due to negotiations with Wicker, Mississippi’s senior senator, over federal recognition of the Lumbee and other issues unrelated to the nominees. Wicker serves as chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee, which has enormous sway over the legislation in which the Lumbee Tribe would be recognized.
“Roger’s one of my favorite people here, and, you know, it’s just a matter of using the leverage people use every day here,” Tillis said.
Wicker’s office did not respond to a request for comment from Mississippi Today.
The Lumbee have been seeking federal recognition as a tribe for more than a century. But other federally recognized tribes have opposed the effort.
Tillis has been a vocal supporter of federal recognition for the Lumbee. He is not running for reelection in 2026, so next year will be his final opportunity to secure a bipartisan bill for the indigenous people.
President Donald Trump has also supported federal recognition for the Lumbee.
Most of North Carolina’s congressional delegation supports federal recognition of the Lumbee. Language granting them federal recognition was added to the House version of the Pentagon’s annual spending blueprint.
But language about the Lumbee was not included in the Senate’s version of the blueprint.
illis also said he is negotiating with Wicker over other issues, but he declined to say what the issues were.
In August, Trump nominated Robert Chamberlin and James Maxwell, both justices on the Mississippi Supreme Court, to vacant federal judgeships in northern Mississippi. Trump in July nominated Scott Leary and Baxter Kruger, his choices for U.S. attorney for the Northern and Southern districts of Mississippi, respectively.
None of the four nominees responded to requests for comment from Mississippi Today. Both Wicker and Mississippi’s other U.S. senator, Cindy Hyde-Smith, support the nominees, though neither is a member of the Judiciary Committee.
Taylor Vance is a political reporter at Mississippi Today.
Christa Dutton is a NOTUS reporter and an Allbritton Journalism Institute fellow.