Returning to the US Capitol after a stinging primary re-election loss, [Bill Cassidy, a Republican senator of Louisiana,](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/may/17/republican-louisiana-senator-bill-cassidy-results-primary-trump) said he had no regrets about his “momentous” vote to convict [Donald Trump](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/donaldtrump) on 2021 impeachment charges during his first presidency. “I voted to uphold the constitution. It may have cost me my seat, but who cares?” Cassidy told reporters in the Capitol. “I had the privilege of voting to uphold the constitution – isn’t that a great thing?” Cassidy lost his seat in his state’s Republican primary on Saturday after [Trump](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/donaldtrump) endorsed one of his opponents. And after years of trying to convince his voters that he was still supportive of the president even though he had voted to convict Trump in a Senate impeachment trial after his supporters’ January 6 [attack on the Capitol](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/us-capitol-breach). But after years of curtly dodging questions about his impeachment vote, and often saying nothing at all when pressed in the Capitol hallways, Cassidy now says he feels “great”. “You’re looking at a man who loves his country, who feels very, very good about how I serve my country and my constitution and my fellow Americans,” Cassidy said. “Wouldn’t all of us want to say, I voted to support the constitution on something momentous? That’s the way I feel about it. I’m very pleased about it.” He now joins a club of Republican lawmakers who have crossed Trump and lost. It remains unclear whether he will join Republican colleagues like Thom Tillis, the North Carolina senator who has become more outspoken since he announced his retirement in June 2025. Cassidy wouldn’t directly criticize Trump on Monday evening, saying that “people want me to say negative things, but I’m saying positive things.” Still, he did hint that he may have more to say, telling reporters he was undecided on how he will vote on the next Democratic measure to halt the Iran war and criticizing a new nearly $1.8bn fund to compensate Trump allies who believe they have been unjustly investigated and persecuted – potentially including people who were prosecuted and later pardoned for their roles in the Capitol attack. As Cassidy reflected on his two terms in the Senate, his Republican colleagues still loyal to Trump were mostly quiet or dispassionate about his loss. “Bill’s loss was predictable, and Bill knew it,” said his Louisiana colleague, the Republican senator [John Kennedy](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/apr/19/republican-senator-criticizes-trump-pope-feud). Kennedy said Cassidy decided to run anyway, “and I respect that, and I thank him for his service.” Cassidy’s vote to convict Trump on impeachment charges “was an issue, there’s no question”, Kennedy said. And now, Kennedy said, there’s a 27 June runoff for Cassidy’s seat between Julia Letlow, a Trump-endorsed US House member, and the [Louisiana](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/louisiana) state treasurer, John Fleming. Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina senator and one of the president’s closest allies, said on Sunday on NBC’s Meet the Press that “those who try to destroy Trump politically, stand in the way of his agenda, are going to lose”. Trump agreed, posting over the weekend on social media that “it’s nice to see that \[Cassidy’s\] political career is OVER!” Only Lisa Murkowski, an Alaska senator and one of six other [Republicans](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/republicans) who voted to convict Trump in his second impeachment trial, said she regretted that Cassidy would not be returning to the Senate. His defeat “certainly has implications for us here”, she said. “I’ve appreciated working with him and his leadership.” Until Saturday, Cassidy was also silent on most controversies involving Trump. And he worked hard to show that he was supportive of the president, most significantly by eventually supporting the nomination of the health and human services secretary, [Robert F Kennedy Jr](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/robert-f-kennedy-jr), even after questioning Kennedy’s skepticism of vaccines. As a doctor and the chair of the Senate health, education, labor and pensions committee, Cassidy’s vote was crucial. Cassidy would not say on Monday if he regretted that vote. He compared the vote to a bad date in high school and said “life is lived forward.” He was more outspoken about Trump’s new “[anti-weaponization fund](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/may/18/trump-dismiss-10-billion-dollar-irs-lawsuit)”, which is part of an agreement that resolves the president’s lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service over the leak of his tax returns. While other Republicans dodged questions on the fund as they returned to Washington DC on Monday evening, telling reporters they didn’t know enough about it or just declining to weigh in, Cassidy said he saw no precedent for it. “We are a nation of laws,” Cassidy said. “You can’t just make up things.” Congress should have a say, he said, adding that people he met on the campaign trail “are concerned about making their own ends meet – not about putting the slush fund together without a legal precedent”. Cassidy’s support for Trump’s conviction in the February 2021 impeachment trial was a surprise, after the mild-mannered doctor had been mostly supportive of – or at least reluctant to challenge – Trump through his first presidency. He wrestled with how to vote for days beforehand and declined to comment on the trial before casting his vote. He was one of seven Republicans to vote to convict as the Senate eventually acquitted Trump. The only other two remaining in the Senate are Murkowski and Susan Collins, a Maine senator who is up for re-election as well in her much more moderate state. Cassidy said after the vote in 2021 that he was “at peace” with his decision. But it dogged him for the full five years, and became much more of an issue when Trump was re-elected and Cassidy was running again. When asked on Monday if he would run for office again, Cassidy made a subtle dig at Trump’s efforts to overturn his 2020 presidential election defeat to Joe Biden – and his falsely claiming that he was defrauded of victory, which preceded the Capitol attack. “I respect democracy,” Cassidy said. “So right now that door just seems to be shut.” On Tuesday, he [told](https://www.wwltv.com/article/news/local/spit-in-the-eye-insult-cassidy-blasts-trumps-proposed-ballroom-18b-ally-fund/289-87124327-3f14-455a-af7b-81f7c5c3f751) media members he was against the possibility of $1bn in a budget bill related to costs for a White House ballroom that Trump covets. “Louisianians don’t want to spend \[that\] on a ballroom,” Cassidy said. “They just can’t afford it. “I think this is a spit-in-the-eye insult to all my taxpayers in Louisiana to spend a billion on a ballroom.” _Guardian staff contributed reporting_

[Donald Trump](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/donaldtrump) is pressing Congress to erase one of the darkest chapters of his political career, urging Republicans to pass a resolution that would symbolically nullify the two impeachments he suffered during his first term in office. The effort, [first reported by the Wall Street Journal](https://www.wsj.com/politics/elections/trump-and-allies-are-working-on-plan-to-expunge-impeachments-49ee2874) and confirmed by a White House official, would allow Trump to claim a symbolic victory on a key grievance from his first term. But experts say it would have little legal significance, since the constitution provides no procedure for undoing an impeachment. Trump is the first president in US history to be impeached twice. The first case, in 2019, centred on allegations that he abused his power by pressuring Ukraine to investigate [Joe Biden](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/joebiden), a political rival. He was acquitted by the Senate in February 2020. The second followed the 6 January 2021 attack on the US Capitol, when members of Congress accused him of inciting an insurrection. He was again acquitted after leaving office. According to the Journal, Trump and his allies are seeking a congressional resolution that would effectively expunge the impeachments from the historical record. While such a measure would carry no legal force, supporters view it as a symbolic repudiation of what they regard as politically motivated proceedings. Any attempt to revisit the impeachments is likely to reopen some of the most contentious episodes of Trump’s political life at a moment when Republicans are preparing for November’s midterm elections. Critics argue that the strategy risks drawing renewed attention to the very allegations the president would prefer to consign to history. [Speaking on CNN](https://x.com/OutFrontCNN/status/2065237044880875968?s=20), the political commentator SE Cupp questioned the wisdom of the move. “What are you thinking?” she said. “He’s not thinking ahead. All the reasons he was impeached get dredged up again, and we’re all talking about it around a midterm election.” Democrats duly seized on this argument. Ted Lieu, a Democratic representative from California who served as one of the House impeachment managers during Trump’s second impeachment trial, [wrote on social media](https://x.com/tedlieu/status/2065263519860236583?s=20): “As a former impeachment manager, I plead with you to please bring up Trump’s prior impeachments. “Let’s hold hearings, call witnesses and show videos to remind people what happened. And please make every Republican in a swing district vote on this. Thank you.” Adam Schiff, the California senator who was the lead impeachment manager in the first impeachment trial of Trump, dismissed the effort as futile. “There is no expunging the stain of Trump’s two impeachments,” he wrote. “Or avoiding the conclusion that the president cares little about the economic hardships of the American people. His priority is only, ever, [Donald Trump](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/donaldtrump).” Trump was only the third US president to be impeached, after Andrew Johnson in 1868 and Bill Clinton in 1998. Both men were acquitted by the Senate. Richard Nixon resigned in 1974 before the House could vote on articles of impeachment over the Watergate scandal. Since returning to office, Trump has repeatedly portrayed the impeachments as part of a broader campaign by political opponents and government institutions to undermine him. But constitutional scholars note that the US constitution contains no mechanism for reversing or cancelling an impeachment once it has occurred. As a result, any congressional resolution would amount largely to a political statement rather than a substantive legal action. Abigail Jackson, a White House spokesperson, defended the proposal, accusing Democrats of pursuing partisan vendettas against the president. “Trump-deranged Democrats have spent years launching phoney attacks against the president and weaponising the government against him,” she said. “It’s no surprise that sane individuals are recognising these sham efforts and are interested in undoing those shameful actions. President Trump remains focused on one thing: doing what’s best for the American people.”