{"id":38152,"date":"2026-05-17T04:06:08","date_gmt":"2026-05-17T04:06:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pickbydoc.com\/?p=38152"},"modified":"2026-05-17T04:06:09","modified_gmt":"2026-05-17T04:06:09","slug":"sen-bill-cassidys-defeat-shows-the-price-of-dissent-in-trumps-republican-party","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pickbydoc.com\/?p=38152","title":{"rendered":"Sen. Bill Cassidy\u2019s defeat shows the price of dissent in Trump\u2019s Republican Party"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p id=\"anchor-3b1860\" class=\"body-graf\">Sen. Bill Cassidy\u2019s primary loss Saturday brings an end to a two-decade career in public office that was ultimately defined by tensions with President Donald Trump.<\/p>\n<p><button class=\"styles_subscriptionCTA__LOUeY\" id=\"subscriptionCTA\" type=\"button\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"styles_textWrapper__vxvko\">\n<p class=\"styles_text__daaVB styles_textLarge__qlzwu\">Subscribe to read this story ad-free    <\/p>\n<p class=\"styles_text__daaVB\">Get unlimited access to ad-free articles and exclusive content.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/media-cldnry.s-nbcnews.com\/image\/upload\/rockcms\/2026-01\/arrow-f55fa5.svg\" alt=\"arrow\" class=\"styles_arrow__tnruW\" aria-hidden=\"true\"\/><\/button><\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-6ae857\" class=\"body-graf\">And when Republicans have tensions with Trump, the president usually wins.<\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-424221\" class=\"body-graf\">Cassidy <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/politics\/2026-election\/julia-letlow-advances-louisiana-senate-gop-runoff-sen-bill-cassidy-tra-rcna344954\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">failed to advance in the Republican primary in Louisiana<\/a>, as Trump-backed Rep. Julia Letlow and state Treasurer John Fleming are projected to face off in a June 27 runoff. The winner in the GOP contest will be the heavy favorite this fall in ruby-red Louisiana.<\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-341225\" class=\"body-graf\">The result marks another trophy for Trump\u2019s collection in his <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/politics\/2026-election\/trump-aims-defeat-dissident-republicans-key-may-primaries-rcna341407\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">ongoing bid to oust Republicans<\/a> perceived as disloyal to him.<\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-ff3273\" class=\"body-graf\">Throughout Cassidy\u2019s career, there were occasional signs that the physician-turned-politician wasn\u2019t quite in lockstep with his party on a handful of issues, including around health care. But Cassidy\u2019s cardinal sin, in the eyes of Trump and his supporters, was voting in 2021 to convict the then-former president on impeachment charges of inciting an insurrection on Jan. 6.<\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-9ec763\" class=\"body-graf\">Cassidy had just won re-election weeks earlier by a dominant margin. His vote after the impeachment trial was seen as something of a surprise by a senator not known for bucking his party once the dust settled.<\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-a58abd\" class=\"body-graf\">It went against a pattern for Cassidy over his Senate tenure: a tendency to express moderate instincts and occasional disagreements with his party more through words than votes. This time, though, he broke with most of his party on the Senate floor.<\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-fc21b5\" class=\"body-graf\">\u201cOur Constitution and our country is more important than any one person,\u201d Cassidy said in a brief statement after the vote. \u201cI voted to convict President Trump because he is guilty.\u201d<\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-4bf66d\" class=\"body-graf\">And Trump never forgot it, having waged a largely successful campaign to oust Republicans who voted to impeach or convict him. Just two of the other six GOP senators who voted to convict Trump are still in office: Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, and Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine. And just two of the 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach him are still in office, with only one running for re-election this year: Rep. David Valadao, R-Calif.<\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-ef2e88\" class=\"body-graf\">Cassidy\u2019s vote to convict Trump came just a few months after the senator handily won re-election to his second six-year term. He was first elected to the Senate in the 2014 red wave, ousting Democratic Sen. Mary Landrieu. Before that, he served in the House for six years and the Louisiana state Senate for about two years.<\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-b3ab9d\" class=\"body-graf\">It points to the tight grip that Trump maintains over a core GOP electorate that shares his unforgiving demands for lawmakers in the party be loyal to him.<\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-8b7090\" class=\"body-graf\">It didn\u2019t matter that Cassidy\u2019s voting record has been closely aligned with Trump\u2019s agenda in the Senate. The senator rarely ever voted against his legislative priorities, administrative personnel or judicial nominees in either term.<\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-5d451e\" class=\"body-graf\">A <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=iH6Im2j6E_w&amp;feature=youtu.be\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">recent ad<\/a> by the National Republican Senatorial Committee highlighted Cassidy\u2019s support for Trump\u2019s \u201cbig beautiful bill\u201d last year, saying, \u201cSenator Bill Cassidy and President Trump kept their promise and delivered\u201d on tax cuts.<\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-232829\" class=\"body-graf\">Apart from Cassidy\u2019s impeachment vote, his palpable discomfort with elements of Trump\u2019s agenda and the \u201cMake America Healthy Again\u201d movement since the president won a second term in 2024 have gotten significant attention this year \u2014 even though, once again, his actual voting record didn\u2019t stray.<\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-c1ecd4\" class=\"body-graf\">In particular, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/politics\/2026-election\/bill-cassidy-contends-maha-washington-louisiana-rcna344475\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">there has been conflict<\/a> between Cassidy, a doctor and outspoken proponent of vaccines, and Health and Human Service Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, a vaccine skeptic who has sought to infuse his philosophy into government policy. Cassidy, who chairs the Senate health committee that oversees Kennedy\u2019s department, made his reservations clear last year.<\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-e06b46\" class=\"body-graf\">But he still cast a pivotal vote to confirm him to the powerful position.<\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-cd0bc6\" class=\"body-graf\">There again was that pattern for Cassidy, often sticking with his party in a final vote after expressing discomfort on the way there.<\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-c94402\" class=\"body-graf\">In 2017, when Republicans were gearing up to repeal the Affordable Care Act during Trump\u2019s first year as president, Cassidy made a much-publicized appearance on ABC\u2019s \u201cJimmy Kimmel Live\u201d and said any health care bill must \u201cpass <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/news\/us-news\/senator-behind-jimmy-kimmel-test-health-care-chats-jimmy-kimmel-n756696\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">the Jimmy Kimmel test<\/a>\u201d \u2014 named after his son, in that it won\u2019t negative impact care for a child who was born with a congenital heart disease.<\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-b4577e\" class=\"body-graf\">Cassidy went on to vote for the GOP effort, which rolled back protections for preexisting conditions. It narrowly failed in the Senate.<\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-dd4e51\" class=\"body-graf\">This year, in January, Cassidy <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/SenBillCassidy\/status\/2015247523003162922?lang=en\" target=\"_blank\">said<\/a> after Department of Homeland Security agents fatally shot two Americans in Minnesota, \u201cThe events in Minneapolis are incredibly disturbing. The credibility of ICE and DHS are at stake.\u201d Still, he stood with his party on a series of votes amid Democratic demands to overhaul DHS enforcement practices.<\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-e76e7b\" class=\"body-graf\">His statement came just a week after Trump publicly called on Letlow to jump in the race, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/politics\/2026-election\/trump-encourages-rep-julia-letlow-primary-sen-bill-cassidy-rcna254633\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">preemptively endorsing her<\/a> and saying on Truth Social, \u201cRUN, JULIA, RUN!!!\u201d<\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-a333a8\" class=\"body-graf\">Letlow <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/politics\/2026-election\/rep-julia-letlow-launches-louisiana-senate-primary-bill-cassidy-rcna254950\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">launched her campaign<\/a> three days later.<\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-6b21ed\" class=\"endmark body-graf\">Now, she\u2019s moving on to another round in the Republican primary. Cassidy is not.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/politics\/2026-election\/sen-bill-cassidys-defeat-shows-price-dissent-trumps-republican-party-rcna344950\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Sen. Bill Cassidy\u2019s primary loss Saturday brings an end to a two-decade career in public office that was ultimately defined by tensions with President Donald Trump. Subscribe to read this story ad-free Get unlimited access to ad-free articles and exclusive content. And when Republicans have tensions with Trump, the president usually wins. Cassidy failed to [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":38153,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[171],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-38152","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health-conditions"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pickbydoc.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38152","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pickbydoc.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pickbydoc.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pickbydoc.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pickbydoc.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=38152"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/pickbydoc.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38152\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":38154,"href":"https:\/\/pickbydoc.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38152\/revisions\/38154"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pickbydoc.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/38153"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pickbydoc.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=38152"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pickbydoc.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=38152"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pickbydoc.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=38152"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}