Is Thom Tillis Already Planning To Leave The Senate?

North Carolina Senator Thom Tillis indicated this week that he may already be growing tired of life in Washington.

Speaking at The Washington Post Juvenile Justice Summit on Wednesday, Tillis said that if Congress doesn’t tackle a criminal justice overhaul, along with other “big-ticket issues,” with bipartisan solutions in the next few years, he won’t be running for re-election in 2020.

“I don’t run again until 2020, and if we’re not able to get things like this done, I don’t have any intention of coming back,” Tillis said.

Tillis has been in the Senate for less than two years, after defeating Democrat incumbent Kay Hagan in 2014.

Speaking at the event with Democrat Senator Chris Coons, an ally of Tillis’ in his quest for criminal justice reform, he went on to tell the audience that he’s still optimistic a criminal justice overhaul could get done in the next Congress, despite consistent bi-partisan opposition.

“I’d give it even odds,” Tillis said. “A lot of that has to do with how Chris can manage his crazies and how I can manage our crazies.”

“I don’t know if senators normally come up and talk this way but I’m tired of everybody sitting on the sidelines, waving at their parades and never playing the game,” Tillis said. “This is a critically important issue. This is a solvable problem.”

Three of the most recent bills Tillis has sponsored in the Senate include, a resolution celebrating the 25th anniversary of the Albert Eintein Distinguished Educator Fellowship Program, a resolution designating May 1, 2016, as “National Purebred Dog Day,” and a resolution expressing support for the designation of April 18, 2016, as “National Lineman Appreciation Day”.