Cassidy says he accomplished ‘mission’ by yelling at Trump

Senate Cassidy says he accomplished ‘mission’ by yelling at Trump Comments: by Finya Swai - 06/26/26 10:24 AM ET Comments: Link copied by Finya Swai - 06/26/26 10:24 AM ET Comments: Link copied

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Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) said Thursday that his shouting match with President Trump during the GOP luncheon at the Capitol on Wednesday achieved his “mission” of securing more information on the Iran war.

Cassidy backed a successful war powers resolution on Tuesday, but he reversed course and voted against a similar measure on Wednesday.

The senator said his vote changed after the heated exchange with Trump, who confronted four Republicans — Sens. Rand Paul (Ky.), Susan Collins (Maine), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) and Cassidy — at the GOP luncheon for backing the resolution.

“My original rationale is because we were not being briefed — we, the Senate, the Congress of the United States. And I felt it was important that we be briefed,” Cassidy said to CBS News’s Margaret Brennan.

Cassidy said he “raised his volume” to match Trump’s during the back-and-forth and conceded, “I shouldn’t have lost my temper.” He then slipped a note to special envoy Steve Witkoff saying he would consider changing his vote if he were to be briefed on the administration’s plans in Iran.

The Louisiana Republican said he later received a briefing from Vice President Vance and Witkoff in the White House Situation Room, accomplishing his so-called mission.

According to Cassidy, administration officials outlined their objectives focused on degrading “Iran’s nuclear capability, their ability to do a ballistic missile, and their conventional warfare capability.” He added that a regime change was not one of the objectives.

“The regime change is off the table. That doesn’t seem as if that’s going to happen. But it does seem, as if the way they laid it out, the other three objectives can be reached,” he said. “As they laid it out, they have a plausible plan by which to achieve those, and that’s what I was interested in.”

The briefing addressed Cassidy’s concerns that originally led him to support the war powers measure, prompting him to reconsider his position and change his mind.

Add as preferred source on Google Tags Bill Cassidy Donald Trump JD Vance Lisa Murkowski Margaret Brennan Rand Paul Steve Witkoff Susan Collins

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