A confrontation between President Trump and Sen. Bill Cassidy in a closed-door meeting on Wednesday had one GOP senator worried the two men would come to blows.
Mr. Trump met with Senate Republicans to implore them to back his election integrity legislation, the Save America Act. He abruptly declared he won’t sign bipartisan housing legislation unless Congress sends him the election bill.
The president told Mr. Cassidy he didn’t care if the senator voted against him on any matters other than impeachment — apparently a reference to Mr. Cassidy’s vote to convict Mr. Trump on articles of impeachment stemming from the 2021 riot at the U.S. Capitol.
During lunch, Mr. Cassidy, who recently lost a primary and will vacate his seat at the end of this year, stood and pointed his finger at the president. The exchange became heated amid Senate debate over Mr. Trump’s war powers with regard to Iran.
One senator feared the two men were about to fight, “Seen, Heard & Whispered” has learned.
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“I stood and said, ‘You have not told the American people what’s going on. It was supposed to last four weeks; it’s lasted four months. Our original objectives have not been achieved, and I want to know what’s going on,’” Mr. Cassidy told reporters after the blowup. “I can’t tell you that’s verbatim, because obviously I was speaking.”
“I lost my temper. That’s not appropriate. It’s the Irish in me,” he added. “But I matched his tone and his volume, and it went back and forth.”
Mr. Cassidy’s opposition to the president has grown in recent weeks since he lost the Republican primary in Louisiana: The incumbent finished third behind Rep. Julia Letlow and state Treasurer John Fleming, who will go to a runoff election to determine the GOP’s nominee. This week, Mr. Cassidy helped the Senate approve a resolution reeling in Mr. Trump’s war powers.
GOP senators have told Mr. Trump there’s little chance of passing his Save America bill in the Senate, where Democrats have more than enough seats to filibuster. The president has pushed for Republicans to nuke the filibuster, doing away with the supermajority requirement to pass most legislation.
Update: The Senate late Wednesday held a second vote to end the war with Iran, this time with a different result.
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