Sen. Cassidy Turns on Trump, Reverses Vote on Iran Resolution After Losing Primary

Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) was among the four Republican Senators who voted in favor of moving forward with a resolution that would direct President Donald Trump to pull the U.S. military out of the conflict with Iran.

Cassidy’s vote in favor of moving forward with the Iran War Powers Resolution comes days after he lost his reelection bid to Trump-endorsed Rep. Julia Letlow (R-LA), and Louisiana Treasurer John Fleming.

The Senate voted 50-47 to move the War Powers Resolution out from the Senate’s Foreign Relation Committee, with Sens. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Susan Collins (R-ME), Rand Paul (R-KY), and Cassidy voting with the Democrats, CBS News reported.

Cassidy’s vote in favor of moving forward with the resolution represented “the first time” he has “supported advancing a war powers resolution,” according to the outlet.

Per the outlet, the resolution “would direct the president to ‘remove the United States Armed Forces from hostilities within or against Iran'”:

The resolution, led by Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia, would direct the president to “remove the United States Armed Forces from hostilities within or against Iran, unless explicitly authorized by a declaration of war or a specific authorization for use of military force.”

The vote marked only a first step in the Senate. And even if both chambers approved the resolution, the president would be expected to veto it. But Democrats say the move would carry significance, and have the potential to change the president’s thinking in the war.

Cassidy, along with six other Republican senators, voted to convict Trump in the impeachment trial after the riot at the Capitol on January 6, 2021.

Prior to his loss against Letlow and Fleming, a Punchbowl News report revealed that Cassidy was reportedly “furious at the NRSC” and with Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) because he allegedly felt “they haven’t fully supported his reelection bid,” though Thune was reported to have “raised more than $650,000 for Cassidy at a January event in Baton Rouge.”