Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy says he has no regrets about Trump impeachment

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Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy returned to the U.S. Capitol after losing his Republican reelection seat and told reporters that he has no regrets about his impeachment vote against President Donald Trump, a decision that helped alienate him from the president’s political circle. Cassidy said Monday evening that he voted to convict Trump because he wanted to uphold the Constitution, even though he lost his seat in his state’s Republican primary Saturday.

Cassidy said he has “no regrets” and framed his earlier vote as a “momentous” act. “I voted to uphold the Constitution. It may have cost me my seat, but who cares?” Cassidy told reporters in the Capitol, adding, “I had the privilege of voting to uphold the Constitution, isn’t that a great thing?” He said he feels “great” and described the decision in terms of national service rather than party loyalty.

Cassidy said the vote left him satisfied with his role and the obligations of his office, telling reporters, “You’re looking at a man who loves his country, who feels very, very good about how I serve my country and my Constitution and my fellow Americans,” according to the comments. He said, “Wouldn’t all of us want to say, I voted to support the Constitution on something momentous? That’s the way I feel about it. I’m very pleased about it.”

After years of declining to answer questions about that impeachment vote and sometimes saying nothing when pressed in Capitol hallways, Cassidy said the stance now reflects how he views the decision as part of a broader civic duty. The Republican senator’s loss came after Trump endorsed one of Cassidy’s opponents and after Cassidy spent years trying to convince voters he still supported the president even though he had voted in the Senate impeachment trial to convict Trump following the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.

Cassidy’s comments also placed him in a group of Republicans who have crossed Trump and lost, while other lawmakers watched how far the break might extend. It remains unclear whether he will become more critical of Trump’s agenda, though Cassidy told reporters he was not trying to “say negative things,” saying instead that “people want me to say negative things, but I’m saying positive things.”

Republican Sen. John Kennedy, a Louisiana colleague, said Cassidy’s loss was predictable and that Cassidy “knew it.” Kennedy told reporters Cassidy decided to run anyway and said, “and I respect that, and I thank him for his service,” adding, “We’re running on to a runoff now and we’ve got two fine people in the runoff.” Kennedy also said Cassidy’s impeachment vote “was an issue, there’s no question.”

Other Republicans pointed more sharply toward the risks of crossing Trump. Lindsey Graham, a close ally of Trump, said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” Sunday that “those who try to destroy Trump politically, stand in the way of his agenda, are going to lose.” Trump himself also responded to Cassidy’s primary defeat by posting on social media over the weekend that “it’s nice to see that his political career is OVER!” Cassidy’s loss prompted quieter reactions from most Senate Republicans loyal to Trump, with only Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski saying she regrets Cassidy won’t be returning. Murkowski said she has “appreciated working with him and his leadership.”

Cassidy’s path since his 2021 impeachment vote has been shaped by how he positioned himself during Trump’s second term and his own campaign. Until Saturday, Cassidy was described as silent on many controversies involving Trump, while he worked to show support for the president, including by backing the nomination of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. even after raising questions about vaccine skepticism when discussing Kennedy’s views. Cassidy told reporters Monday that he did not regret his impeachment decision, comparing it to a bad date in high school and saying “life is lived forward.”

He was more direct about Trump’s new “anti-weaponization fund,” which is tied to a settlement that resolves the president’s lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service over the leak of his tax returns. Cassidy said he sees “no precedent” for the arrangement, telling reporters, “We are a nation of laws,” and adding, “You can’t just make up things.” He said Congress should have a say and said people he met on the campaign trail were concerned with making ends meet rather than building a “slush fund” without legal precedent.

Cassidy’s embrace of the impeachment decision comes after a period in which he wrestled with the vote and declined to comment before casting it in the trial. He voted to convict as the Senate eventually acquitted Trump, one of seven Republicans who voted to convict in the impeachment proceedings; the only two remaining senators described as having voted to convict in a second impeachment trial are Murkowski and Maine Sen. Susan Collins, who is up for reelection in a more moderate state. Cassidy said after the 2021 vote that he was “at peace,” but he said the decision dogged him for five years and became more of an issue as Trump was reelected and Cassidy sought a new term.