Senator Cassidy has no regrets on Trump impeachment vote after Louisiana primary loss

Returning to the US Capitol after a stinging primary re-election loss, Senator Bill Cassidy of Louisiana said Monday evening that he has no regrets about his “momentous” vote to convict Donald Trump on 2021 impeachment charges.

“I voted to uphold the constitution. It may have cost me my seat, but who cares?” Cassidy told reporters. “I had the privilege of voting to uphold the constitution – isn’t that a great thing?”

Cassidy lost his seat in Louisiana’s Republican primary on Saturday after Trump endorsed one of his opponents. He had spent years trying to convince voters he still supported the president, despite voting to convict Trump in the Senate impeachment trial after the January 6 attack on the Capitol.

After years of curtly dodging questions about his impeachment vote, and often saying nothing when pressed in Capitol hallways, Cassidy now says he feels “great.”

“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,” Cassidy 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.”

He now joins a club of Republican lawmakers who have crossed Trump and lost. It remains unclear whether he will follow colleagues like Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina, who has become more outspoken since announcing his retirement in June 2025.

Cassidy would not directly criticize Trump on Monday evening, saying “people want me to say negative things, but I’m saying positive things.”

Still, he hinted he may have more to say. He told reporters he is undecided on how he will vote on the next Democratic measure to halt the Iran war and criticized a new nearly $1.8 billion fund to compensate Trump allies who believe they were unjustly investigated and persecuted – potentially including people prosecuted and later pardoned for their roles in the Capitol attack.

As Cassidy reflected on his two Senate terms, his Republican colleagues still loyal to Trump were mostly quiet or dispassionate about his loss.

“Bill’s loss was predictable, and Bill knew it,” said his Louisiana colleague, Senator John Kennedy.

Kennedy said Cassidy decided to run anyway, “and I respect that, and I thank him for his service.”

Cassidy’s vote to convict Trump on impeachment charges “was an issue, there’s no question,” Kennedy said. A runoff for Cassidy’s seat is set for June 27 between Representative Julia Letlow, endorsed by Trump, and Louisiana state treasurer John Fleming.

Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, one of Trump’s closest allies, said Sunday on NBC’s Meet the Press that “those who try to destroy Trump politically, stand in the way of his agenda, are going to lose.”

Trump agreed, posting on social media over the weekend that “it’s nice to see that [Cassidy’s] political career is OVER!”

Only Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, one of six other Republicans who voted to convict Trump in his second impeachment trial, said she regretted that Cassidy will not return to the Senate.

His defeat “certainly has implications for us here,” she said. “I’ve appreciated working with him and his leadership.”

Until Saturday, Cassidy had also been silent on most controversies involving Trump. He worked hard to show support for the president, most notably by eventually backing the nomination of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., even after questioning Kennedy’s skepticism of vaccines. As a doctor and chair of the Senate health committee, Cassidy’s vote was crucial.

Cassidy would not say Monday if he regretted that vote. He compared it to a bad date in high school and said “life is lived forward.”

He was more outspoken about Trump’s new “anti-weaponization fund,” part of an agreement resolving the president’s lawsuit against the IRS over the leak of his tax returns.

While other Republicans dodged questions about the fund as they returned to Washington on Monday evening, saying they did not know enough or declining to weigh in, Cassidy said he sees no precedent for it.

“We are a nation of laws,” Cassidy said. “You can’t just make up things.”

Congress should have a say, he said, adding that people he met on the campaign trail “are concerned about making their own ends meet – not about putting the slush fund together without a legal precedent.”

Cassidy’s support for Trump’s conviction in the February 2021 impeachment trial was a surprise, as the mild-mannered doctor had been mostly supportive of – or reluctant to challenge – Trump through his first presidency. He wrestled with the decision for days and declined to comment before casting his vote.

He was one of seven Republicans to vote to convict in the Senate, which ultimately acquitted Trump. The only other two remaining in the Senate are Murkowski and Senator Susan Collins of Maine, who is also up for re-election in her more moderate state.

Cassidy said after the 2021 vote that he was “at peace” with his decision. But it dogged him for five years and became a major issue after Trump’s reelection and Cassidy’s own campaign.

When asked Monday if he would run for office again, Cassidy made a subtle dig at Trump’s efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss to Joe Biden and his false claims of fraud, which preceded the Capitol attack. “I respect democracy,” Cassidy said. “So right now that door just seems to be shut.”