Cassidy says Congress will keep Trump accountable after Senate defeat

Bill Cassidy said Congress will keep Donald Trump accountable after he, Thom Tillis and John Cornyn are gone, and he questioned whether Trump understands that the Senate is a separate body from the presidency. The Louisiana Republican made the remarks in a Face the Nation interview conducted June 25 and aired June 28, days after he lost his Senate primary and after a White House meeting that turned openly tense.

During that June 25 meeting, Trump’s sit-down with Republican senators grew heated when the war powers dispute over Iran came up, and Trump told Cassidy to sit down. Cassidy said, "He raised his voice. I lost my temper," and later told reporters, "I make no apologies for standing up to the president." He also said he had tried to respond to Trump and would not be bullied, while stressing that the administration had not been briefing lawmakers adequately.

The clash landed at a moment when the Senate was already testing its own authority over military action. The chamber approved a Democrat-led War Powers resolution that would prevent further U.S. military action in Iran, with four Republicans joining it, but the measure was symbolic and carried no force of law. Later the same day, senators rejected a separate, more binding resolution from Tim Kaine of Virginia that would have required the president to remove U.S. forces from hostilities involving Iran unless Congress authorized action. Cassidy said he passed a note to special envoy Steve Witkoff saying he would consider changing his vote if he received a briefing, and he said a briefing later that night clarified the administration’s goals.

Cassidy’s willingness to push back fits a longer record of friction with Trump. He was one of seven Senate Republicans who voted to convict Trump in the 2021 impeachment trial after the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, and Trump later endorsed Rep. Julia Letlow to challenge him in Louisiana. CBS News projected on May 17 that Letlow and Louisiana state Treasurer John Fleming advanced to a runoff, and the Louisiana GOP runoff was held June 27, effectively ending Cassidy’s reelection bid.

The episode leaves Senate Republicans facing a narrower, sharper test. They can still force war powers votes, slow or block legislation, and demand briefings before backing the White House, but Cassidy’s defeat shows how quickly the space for open resistance can shrink when Trump’s political power inside the party outpaces the institutional power of individual senators.