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Bill CassidyWilliam Morgan “Bill” Cassidy, born September 28, 1957 (age 64), is the senior United States Senator from Louisiana. A member of the Republican Party, he was elected in November 2014, when he unseated the three-term Democrat senator Mary Landrieu. Running third in the primary campaign was Republican and Tea Party figure Rob Maness.[1] Cassidy serves on the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources; the Committee on Appropriations; the Committee on Veterans Affairs; the Joint Economic Committee; and the Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions. He has shown his true colors as a RINO by voting to impeach former President Donald Trump in the second impeachment.[2] He was immediately censured in a unanimous vote by the Louisiana Republican Party Executive Committee.[2] U.S. SenateCassidy and Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina have worked together on the Cassidy-Graham bill in an attempt to repeal Obamacare.[3] 2020 U.S. Senate election in LouisianaCassidy announced on February 19, 2020 his bid for re-election to a second Senate term.[4] He easily won the blanket primary with nearly 60% of the vote.[5] 117th CongressIn 2021, Cassidy first voted to declare the second impeachment of President Trump "unconstitutional."[6] Then he switched his vote the following week to "constitutional."[7] He and six other aberrant Republican senators, including Mitt Romney, Lisa Murkowski, Susan Collins, Ben Sasse, Richard Burr, and Pat Toomey, voted "guilty" in the final tabulation to convict Trump of the single charge of "inciting an insurrection," referring to Capitol Hill riot on January 6, 2021, of which Trump had no part.[8] On the afternoon of the final Senate vote on impeachment, which fell ten votes short of conviction, the Louisiana Republican Party censured Cassidy for his failure to follow the wishes of a majority of Louisiana voters and instead voting as he personally wished to do.[9] Cassidy was handily reelected to a second term in the Senate in 2020,[5] and his campaign advertising extolled Trump's successes in the presidency.[10] The censure carries no legal weight, and a recall is not permitted for U.S. officials. The state Republican Executive Committee said, "We condemn, in the strongest possible terms, the vote today by Sen. Cassidy to convict former President Trump. Fortunately, clearer heads prevailed and President Trump has been acquitted of the impeachment charge filed against him." Party secretary Mike Bayham said that the censure vote "couldn't wait" because "many Republicans believe this was a betrayal and required immediate action.[10] On February 10, 2021, conservative radio commentator Moon Griffon devoted his whole two-hour program to reflect on the outrage that conservatives feel about Cassidy's treachery. He coined a nickname for Cassidy, "Psycho Bill," played the song "Backstabberrs" when mentioning Cassidy, and likened the senator to the Louisiana Republican Fraud Squad, a collection of twenty-three Moderate Republicans who joined with all the Democrats and two Independents to elect Clay Schexnayder, the Moderate Republican from Ascension Parish and the choice of Democratic Governor John Bel Edwards, as the state House Speaker.[11] Cassidy's wife, the former Laura Layden (born 1956), a native of Alabama, is a retired breast cancer surgeon who founded a charter school of dyslexic children. The couple has three children, Kate, Meg, and Will.[12] Moon Griffon said on his radio broadcast that Mrs. Cassidy is a staunch liberal and may have pushed her husband into voting for the second Trump impeachment.[13] Billboards across Louisiana declare Cassidy "censured" and an "object of shame." Political writer Matthew Holloway concludes, "Simply put, Senator Cassidy has demonstrated that he is a rank opportunist with no real loyalty to his party or his constituents. He’s decided to back the good ol’ boy establishment, which before 2016 was a sure-fire way to succeed in the Deep South GOP."[14] Political positionsCassidy has generally been conservative-leaning, opposing abortion, Obamacare, and illegal immigration.[15] However, despite his many pro-liberty views, Cassidy has defended the totalitarian left-wing agenda of mandatory vaccination.[16] In 2020, Cassidy called for U.S. President Donald Trump to concede the election to former Vice President Joe Biden. Cassidy, a former Democrat who once supported liberal presidential candidate Michael Dukakis in 1988,[17] did not address the rampant fraud which occurred in that election. Nor did he indicate to what extent he will now support the Biden liberal agenda.[18] He was one of Six Republican senators to vote in favor of the partisan hack January Sixth Commission.[19] References
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