Bill Cassidy is on his way out. He isn’t shutting up, though. The outgoing Louisiana Republican senator thinks Donald Trump treats Congress like a useless limb. Worse, he thinks Congress lets him. Speaking on CBS’ “Face the Nation,” Cassidy laid bare the dysfunctional power dynamic of modern Washington. “Sometimes he acts as if Congress is merely an appendage,” Cassidy muttered. “And, frankly, sometimes Congress acts like it’s an appendage.”
It is classic political theater. Cassidy, who lost his seat after Trump backed his opponent, mused about what he would do in the Oval Office. He would focus on the basics. Groceries. Healthcare. The stuff normal people actually sweat over at night. “If I were president, I would be focused on those people… us at the kitchen table,” he said. Instead, Washington prefers food fights.
The bad blood runs deep. Cassidy was one of the few Republicans who voted to convict Trump after the Capitol riot. Naturally, the grudge festered. It boiled over recently in a closed-door GOP meeting. Trump started berating senators who voted to curb his war-making powers against Iran. Cassidy refused to take the bait quietly. He stood up. He demanded answers. Trump tried to drown him out. So, Cassidy yelled back.
“I raised my volume to match his,” Cassidy recalled. It was a shouting match. Two grown men, screaming past each other in a private room. Cassidy wanted to know the endgame in Iran. Trump just wanted obedience. Cassidy admits he lost his temper. He doesn’t care. He wanted facts, not a lecture.
He got his facts eventually. Just not from Trump. Vice President JD Vance and envoy Steve Witkoff quietly pulled Cassidy aside later for a classified briefing. They explained that delicate negotiations were underway. It was enough. Cassidy flipped his vote on a subsequent Iran resolution. He got his answers. Mission accomplished, technically.
But in Trump’s GOP, insubordination has a price. Cassidy paid it. After a decade in the Senate, his career is over. Trump endorsed Julia Letlow, and Cassidy’s reelection bid evaporated. That is the cost of standing up. You get the truth, but you lose your job.
