Congress

No YOLO yet: Bill Cassidy insists he won’t be out for revenge against Trump

Published

3 weeks ago

May 19, 2026

Donald Trump got his revenge on Sen. Bill Cassidy. The Louisiana Republican says he isn’t planning to return the favor — yet.

Freed from political constraints after decisively losing his battle for renomination Saturday, Cassidy could — if he chooses — gum up major parts of Trump’s agenda on Capitol Hill. To start with, he holds what amounts to veto power over key nominees as chair of the Senate committee overseeing health care, labor and education and as a member of the powerful Senate Finance Committee.

Cassidy, in multiple lengthy chats with reporters Monday around the Capitol, batted down any suggestion he is now liberated to challenge Trump head-on. But he also declined to say how he would handle tricky upcoming votes on the Iran war or an immigration enforcement bill and urged Washington to embrace bipartisanship.

“Am I going to deliberately push back on things? No, I’m going to do what’s good for my country and my state,” he said.

Asked about the nominees coming through the panel he chairs — which could include a new Labor secretary and FDA commissioner — Cassidy noted that there were already nominees who were not able to get through the committee.

“I’m going to continue to do what is best for my state and best for my country and try and make every decision with that consideration,” he said about whether his approach to the administration will change.

Those comments came after Cassidy delivered a withering, if veiled, condemnation of Trump in his concession speech, raising the possibility that he could become increasingly outspoken in his disagreements with the president over the next seven months.

Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., speaks to supporters during an election night watch party Saturday, May 16, 2026, in Baton Rouge, La.

“Insults only bother me if they come from somebody of character and integrity. I find that people of character and integrity don’t spend their time attacking people on the internet,” Cassidy said during the speech Saturday night.

Cassidy largely avoided addressing Trump directly when speaking with reporters Monday. He declined to say, for instance, if he thought Trump had done something that constituted a high crime or misdemeanor during his second term. He was one of the seven Republicans to vote to convict the president on impeachment charges after the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol by a mob of Trump supporters.

Instead, Cassidy said he wanted to “give a better vision of how we should do things” and signaled that’s an area where he will speak out on before his term ends in early January.

“I think people want me to say negative things,” he said. “I’m saying positive things, positive things that may reflect upon the current circumstance, but it’s coming from my heart about making my country a better place, and that’s my goal.”

Cassidy’s avowed attitude could be a sigh of relief for Senate Republicans, who need near-complete unity to confirm nominees or advance legislation through the Senate unless they can win over Democratic votes.

Republicans already have several members who are retiring, and while they generally vote with the party, former GOP Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina have shown a willingness to break with the president on key issues.

“I don’t see him going in the way of a Thom Tillis, or something like that, to cause unnecessary problems,” said a former Cassidy aide granted anonymity to candidly assess the senator’s thinking. “I think he’ll continue to do what he’s always done, which is just kind of do what he feels is right. I would be surprised if he goes on the warpath.”

Saturday’s loss was the culmination of a politically tortuous year for Cassidy, who stifled his concerns and advanced several controversial Trump nominees — most prominently HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

He also told colleagues — and Blue Light News — last year that the White House had assured him Trump would stay neutral in the primary, something some GOP senators were privately skeptical about given the president’s mercurial nature and lingering anger over the 2021 vote.

Trump instead endorsed a primary opponent, Rep. Julia Letlow, as payback for Cassidy’s 2021 conviction vote. She won a plurality Saturday and will face former Rep. John Fleming in a June 27 runoff.

Cassidy said Monday he had no regrets over the conviction vote.

“I actually voted to uphold the Constitution — that’s a better way to put it,” Cassidy said. “That may have cost me my seat, but who cares?”

The White House did not respond to a request for comment on concerns over Cassidy blocking legislative priorities or nominees.

A name plate and the seal of the state of Louisiana are seen outside the office of Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) on Capitol Hill on May 18, 2026.

A former administration official from Trump’s first term said the president’s team understood the risks of not endorsing Cassidy and isn’t worried about the senator going into YOLO mode now.

“This is the outcome they wanted — I think that they had factored all of that in from the beginning,” the person said. “I don’t see any regret coming out of them. Cassidy would have been a thorn in the side all the way through the end. And, to be honest, once he got past an election, I don’t think he would care anymore, because who’s going to be gone first — Trump or Cassidy?”

The person added that Cassidy won’t be the only senator on his way out the door looking to block nominees from the president, suggesting the White House could keep acting officials in place until a new Congress is seated next year.

Several of his colleagues downplayed that Cassidy, who is known within the conference for being a low-key health-policy wonk, would suddenly reinvent himself as a major gadfly for Senate leadership or the White House.

But there are already signs that Cassidy might be freer with his post-election tongue.

Asked Monday about the Justice Department’s establishment of a controversial “antiweaponization” fund to pay settlements to people allegedly targeted by Democratic administrations, the senator said he didn’t see a “legal precedent” for it.

Cassidy’s delegation mate, GOP Sen. John Kennedy said, he is “very nonemotional in the way he makes his decisions.”

“He’s very analytical, and personally, I think Bill will just continue to do what he’s always done, just call it like he sees it,” he added.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune called Cassidy a “team player” who wants to “see our team succeed.”

“He’s got several months here in which he can be a real force for change and a factor in trying to get some things done, and chairs an incredibly significant, powerful committee here, and we look forward to continuing to work with him,” Thune said.

Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), a member of the committee Cassidy chairs, largely declined to comment on the race but noted that he’s got bills he wants to get through the panel before the end of the year.

“I’m going to be really nice to him,” Hawley said.

Kelsey Brugger, Calen Razor and Hailey Fuchs contributed to this report.

Congress

Rick Scott lifts holds on Coast Guard promotions

Published

27 minutes ago

June 11, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

Sen. Rick Scott said Thursday he had lifted his hold on Coast Guard promotions as he works to resolve a dispute between the service branch and a shipbuilder in his state.

The Florida Republican said in a statement that he cares “deeply about these Coast Guard promotions” and that “though we’re still not done, I’m lifting these holds as all parties have been working together in good faith and are moving towards an amenable agreement that gets ships built and is fair to US taxpayers.”

Scott added that “the process still needs to be better” and that he would “fight to ensure there is more oversight and accountability of the Coast Guard and that we fix the Coast Guard procurement process going forward.”

Scott initially placed the hold in April on the elevation of officers within the service, preventing the Senate from approving promotions via unanimous consent.

Former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem in 2025 scrapped plans for two advanced cutters being manufactured at Panama City-based Eastern Shipbuilding Group. The shipyard announced in November it would stop work on the two remaining boats “due to significant financial strain caused by the program’s structure and conditions.”

Scott had been a longtime booster of the partnership between Eastern and the Coast Guard and said in April he had been working with the administration to resolve the dispute but was struggling to get traction.

While the Senate could have held roll-call votes to sidestep Scott’s blockage, service officer promotions are usually noncontroversial and leaders rarely choose to expend valuable and finite floor time to advance them if there is not unanimous consent.

Congress

Senate panel approves Department of War name change

Published

1 hour ago

June 11, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

The Senate Armed Services Committee voted this week to formally change the Pentagon’s name to the Department of War, moving a significant step closer to solidifying President Donald Trump’s rebrand of the Defense Department as permanent.

The move came during the committee’s closed-door deliberations over its defense policy bill, according to Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.), who announced the name change in explaining his vote against the legislation.

“It’s a juvenile move that sadly describes the reality of a president who has abandoned meaningful diplomacy in favor of starting doubtful wars in multiple locations and threatening even more,” he said in a statement.

Trump authorized the War Department moniker last year as part of a broader effort to present a more aggressive military to the world. The Pentagon has used it since, as have many Republicans on Capitol Hill.

But Congress must sign off for the name change to stick — and votes on both sides of the Capitol make it closer than ever to becoming a reality.

Details of the Armed Services vote, including who pushed for the change, were not immediately public. The committee voted 18-9 to advance the bill Wednesday evening and released initial details of the legislation Thursday.

The House Armed Services Committee approved the rebranding last week in its draft of the annual authorization legislation. The measure was adopted there in a narrow, party-line vote.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth quickly praised the decision. “The Department of War will officially be restored soon,” he wrote in a social media post after the House panel’s vote.

The Congressional Budget Office has estimated that a full renaming of the department could cost as much as $125 million. But supporters have argued changing the name would more accurately reflect the focus and strength of the department, sending a message to potential adversaries.

The name change’s inclusion in both the House and Senate panel’s drafts of the authorization bill — which has passed Congress annually for the last six decades — signals that the rebrand has a strong chance of becoming law.

Congress

Judge finds Lander not guilty in 26 Federal Plaza obstruction case

Published

1 hour ago

June 11, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

NEW YORK — A federal judge ruled Thursday that former New York City Comptroller Brad Lander is not guilty of misdemeanor obstruction for blocking an elevator while protesting outside an immigrant holding area.

Lander was hit with the obstruction charge last September while demonstrating in support of detained immigrants at 26 Federal Plaza in lower Manhattan. He was offered a deal to drop the charge but opted instead for a trial to bring attention to the federal government’s immigration policies.

Lander said he was there with state legislators to view the facility’s conditions, not to purposefully block an elevator — and that he would have moved if asked. In reading his findings, Judge Henry Ricardo described Lander’s testimony as consistent with video evidence, noting that his movements didn’t suggest he was purposefully trying to block the elevator and that Lander appeared “tired and a bit resigned.”

“No offense to Mr. Lander,” the judge said.

Lander — who entered the courtroom in good spirits and holding a Knicks hat — told reporters after the verdict: “I didn’t feel tired.”

“I felt an urgency to show up that day and try to fight what ICE is doing,” he said.

After a month’s delay, Lander finally had his first day in court Wednesday — less than two weeks before the primary election — bringing immigration even more to the forefront in the waning days of his campaign against Democratic Rep. Dan Goldman.

During the six-hour trial, Assistant U.S. Attorney Ariel Cohen framed it as a straightforward case — that it was well-documented Lander was sitting in front of an elevator and didn’t move after being told to do so multiple times.

Cohen pointed to Lander singing “We Shall Not Be Moved,” a well-known protest song popularized during the Civil Rights movement, while sitting in front of the elevator. But Ricardo was not swayed by that argument, reasoning that it was a chaotic moment and Lander was, in fact, moved, despite the song he was singing.

“Actions speak louder than words,” he said.

Ricardo said the government failed to prove Lander purposefully obstructed an elevator. He also said he didn’t weigh what was being protested or whether the protest was just — a stated goal for Lander in deciding to take the case to trial. Instead, Wednesday’s proceedings focused largely on elevator logistics and signage at 26 Federal Plaza, not the Trump administration’s immigration efforts.

“Do I wish that they had granted our discovery motions, sought harder to prove the case and given us the ability to hold ICE accountable? Yes, I wish that,” Lander said after the verdict.

Immigration policy has emerged as a flashpoint between Lander and Goldman, who is seeking a third term, especially as the Trump administration threatens to ramp up enforcement in the state.

Goldman, who often highlights his oversight visits at immigrant detention centers and his “triage center” to support detainees near 26 Federal Plaza, has repeatedly criticized Lander for his approach to immigration. On Wednesday, he referred to Lander’s case as “performative” and “self-promoting.” At a debate last week, Goldman chided him for the rhetorical refrain that he puts his “body on the line” for immigrants and for fundraising off of it.

“While Brad never did get the information he sought from ICE, I have all of that information from my weekly oversight visits and would be happy to brief him,” Goldman said in a statement.

Lander, who frequently conducts court watching shifts, was also arrested at 26 Federal Plaza while escorting migrants from immigration hearings last June, ahead of the mayoral primary. No charges were filed then. Lander on Thursday said he thinks the arrests are an effort “to intimidate people into not participating as part of that court watching, ICE watching movement.”

In response to a question about Goldman’s suggestion his actions are political theater, Lander claimed he wasn’t running for anything in September when he was arrested: “We were there to show up for our neighbors and the rule of law. This is much bigger than we are.”

When asked if the legal proceedings have been a distraction from his campaign, he said some of the most “meaningful work of the last year” has been “being part of a movement of Americans who are fighting back against the fascist White House and rogue ICE agents.”