Bill Cassidy

Following a stinging primary defeat, U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy, R-La., returned to the Capitol this week, projecting a sense of peace and professional resolve.

“We know how the election turned out, and if people want to know how I feel — I feel great,” Cassidy said on Tuesday, following his weekend primary loss to U.S. Rep. Julia Letlow, who will face state Treasurer John Fleming in a June 27 runoff. “It’s been a privilege to serve the United States of America, a privilege to serve Louisiana, and I intend to continue to do so. I am a believer in democracy, and I’m a believer in accepting the will of the people.”

The defeat marks a rare modern unseating of an incumbent senator, catalyzed by President Donald Trump’s endorsement of Letlow — a direct consequence of Cassidy’s independent streak. Cassidy was one of seven Republican senators who voted to convict Trump during his second impeachment trial following the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.

Trump on Sunday rejoiced in Cassidy’s defeat in a post on Truth Social.

“His disloyalty to the man who got him elected is now a part of legend, and it’s nice to see that his political career is OVER!” Trump wrote.

Despite the political cost, Cassidy stood firm. “I have no regrets,” he said of his 2021 impeachment vote.

“I voted to support the Constitution and I will go to my grave saying, ‘My gosh, I had the privilege to vote to support the Constitution.’ I have no regrets whatsoever.”

Cassidy has also clashed with Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. over vaccine policy, even though he provided crucial support to help Kennedy get confirmed.

“There’s a wonderful Scripture, put your hand to the plow and don’t look back,” he said. “You make decisions with the facts you have at the time and you go forward. If you keep going back, you lose track of where that plow should be going. I’m keeping my vision on where the plow should go.”

Cassidy said he now has seven months “to be the best senator that I can possibly be” as he completes his second term.

“Someone asked me what my favorite memory was from being in the Senate and I told them I hope it’s formed in the next seven months,” he told journalists during a Tuesday morning conference call. “Beyond the next seven months I will continue to work for the good of my state, for the good of the country, for the good of us who live here and are blessed to live here. That will be my political future.”

Cassidy said he’s most proud when looking back over Senate career of the No Surprises Act, a bipartisan federal law he co-authored that protects patients from unexpected, out-of-network medical bills; the Mental Health Reform Act of 2016 that strengthened laws enforcing mental health “parity,” pressing insurance companies to cover mental illness equally to physical illnesses; the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, which requires employers with 15 or more employees to provide reasonable accommodations for pregnant, postpartum or job applicants with related medical conditions; and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which secured billions of dollars to rebuild Louisiana’s infrastructure, expand broadband, and fund climate and coastal resiliency.

He also cited the Safer Communities Act and the Working Families Tax Cuts legislation.

“It was my provision in the Working Families Tax Cut bill that has a federal set aside for families who wished to send their kids to a private parochial school or extra dollars if they need it to send their child to a charter school,” he said. “That was my provision. The president likes to brag about it but I’m the one who got it into law.”

Cassidy when he lays his head on his pillow each night, he’s at peace with himself.

“My goal, my task is to do everything I can for the people of my state and the people of the United States of America,” he said. “I’ve worked my hardest and I will work for the next several months and when I finish that responsibility I’ll pass it off to my successor … and I will hear from heaven, ‘Well done, my good and faithful servant.’ ”

Cassidy said he will not endorse either candidate in the Senate race, citing the voters have enough information already about them.

“Absolutely not,” he said firmly when asked if he would consider running for a congressional seat given the redrawing of the state’s districts, or later for governor.

He also said he will no longer be lending his support to Trump’s ballroom plans.

“Louisianians do not want to spend $1 billion on a ballroom,” he said. ” I just got off the campaign trail — gas, groceries, health care, they just cannot afford it. I think this is a spit-in-the-eye insult to all my taxpayers in Louisiana to spend a billion on a ballroom when we should be doing something about the high price of gas, groceries and health care.”