Bill Cassidy


William Morgan Cassidy is an American politician and physician who is the senior United States senator from Louisiana, a seat he has held since 2015. A member of the Republican Party, he served in the Louisiana State Senate from 2006 to 2009 and in the U.S. House of Representatives from 2009 to 2015. Cassidy has chaired the Senate Health, Education, Labor, & Pensions Committee since 2025.
Born in Highland Park, Illinois, Cassidy is a graduate of Louisiana State University and LSU School of Medicine. A gastroenterologist, he was elected to the Louisiana State Senate from the 16th district which included parts of Baton Rouge, in 2006. In 2008, he was elected as the U.S. representative for Louisiana's 6th congressional district, defeating Democratic incumbent Don Cazayoux. Cassidy was elected to the Senate in 2014, defeating Democratic incumbent Mary Landrieu. He was reelected in 2020.
A moderate Republican, Cassidy is a critic of President Donald Trump. In 2021, he was one of seven Republican senators to vote to convict Trump of incitement of insurrection in his second impeachment trial. As a result, the Republican Party of Louisiana censured him. In 2023, after Trump was indicted for mishandling classified documents, Cassidy called for Trump to drop out of the 2024 presidential election. After Trump secured the Republican nomination, Cassidy declined to endorse him in the general election.

Early life and education

William Morgan Cassidy was born in Highland Park, Illinois, one of four sons of Elizabeth and James F. Cassidy, and is of Irish and Welsh descent. He moved to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, as an infant, and received a Bachelor of Science from Louisiana State University in 1979 and a Doctor of Medicine from LSU School of Medicine in 1983. He completed his residency in internal medicine at University of Southern California/Los Angeles General Medical Center in 1987, followed by a hepatology-gastroenterology fellowship at the same institution in 1989.

Early career

Medicine

After his medical training, Cassidy spent a year in Los Angeles as a liver specialist and internal medicine physician at the Cigna Medical Center before returning to Louisiana in 1990. He specialized in the treatment of liver disease at the Earl K. Long Medical Center.
In 1998, Cassidy helped found the Greater Baton Rouge Community Clinic to provide uninsured residents of the greater Baton Rouge area with access to free health care. The Clinic provides low-income families with free dental, medical, mental health, and vision care through a "virtual" approach that partners needy patients with doctors who provide care free of charge.
Cassidy has also been involved in setting up the nonprofit Health Centers in Schools, which vaccinates children in the East Baton Rouge Parish School System against hepatitis B and flu.
In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, Cassidy led a group of health care volunteers to convert an abandoned Kmart into an emergency health care facility, providing basic health care to hurricane victims.
In 2010, Cassidy's alma mater, Louisiana State University, selected him for honoris causa membership in Omicron Delta Kappa, the National Leadership Honor Society.

Politics

Cassidy was first elected to the Louisiana State Senate in 2006 as a Republican. He had previously been a Democrat, supporting Michael Dukakis for president in 1988, donating to Senator Paul Tsongas's 1992 presidential campaign, and to Louisiana Democrats Governor Kathleen Blanco in 2003 and 2004 and Senator Mary Landrieu in 2002. In 2013, Cassidy called his donation to Landrieu a "youthful indiscretion", saying that she "got elected and fell into partisan politics... Louisiana hasn't left Mary, Mary has left us." Since 2001, he has mostly contributed to Republican candidates, including Senator David Vitter. According to Cassidy, he switched parties after the extinction of conservative Democrats and because of his frustration with the bureaucracy and inefficiency of the public hospital system.
On December 9, 2006, Cassidy won a special election for the District 16 seat in the Louisiana Senate. In his first bid for public office, he defeated veteran State Representative and fellow Republican William Daniel, and Libertarian candidate S.B. Zaitoon. The election was held to replace Jay Dardenne, who vacated the seat he had held since 1992 upon his election as Louisiana Secretary of State. Cassidy was sworn in on December 20, 2006. On October 20, 2007, he was reelected to a full four-year term in the Louisiana State Senate. Cassidy received 76% of the vote against Republican Troy "Rocco" Moreau and Libertarian Richard Fontanesi.

U.S. House of Representatives (2009-2015)

Elections

On November 4, 2008, Cassidy was elected to serve Louisiana's 6th district in the U.S. House of Representatives, defeating incumbent Democratic Congressman Don Cazayoux with 48% of the vote. He likely owed his victory to the independent candidacy of state representative Michael L. Jackson. Jackson finished third with 36,100 votes, more than the 25,000-vote margin separating Cassidy and Cazayoux.
In the 2010 midterm elections, Cassidy easily won a second term, defeating Democrat Merritt E. McDonald of Baton Rouge with 66% of the vote. In the 2012 election, Cassidy was reelected again defeating Rufus Holt Craig, Jr., a Libertarian, and Richard Torregano, an Independent. Cassidy received 79% of the vote.

Tenure

In May 2009, Cassidy partnered with California Democratic Representative Jackie Speier to introduce legislation that would amend the House of Representatives rules to require that members of Congress list their earmark requests on their congressional websites. Previous earmark reform efforts had focused on disclosure of earmarks that were funded by Congress. In June 2010, he introduced the Gulf Coast Jobs Preservation Act to terminate the moratorium on deep water drilling and require the Secretary of the Interior to ensure the safety of deep water drilling operations. He worked to ensure that money from the Gulf Coast Restoration Trust Fund which was established in the wake of the BP oil spill, is spent on coastal restoration efforts.
In December 2010, Cassidy voted to extend the tax cuts enacted during the administration of President George W. Bush. He voted for the Constitutional Balanced Budget Amendment of 2011.
In May 2013, Cassidy introduced the Energy Consumers Relief Act of 2013 to require the Environmental Protection Agency to submit reports to both the United States Congress and the United States Department of Energy regarding proposed regulation that would have significant compliance costs. The Department of Energy and Congress would then have the option of stopping or altering the EPA proposal.
In 2013, due to the American Medical Association's decision to officially recognize obesity as a disease, Senators and Representatives, including Cassidy, helped introduce legislation to lower health care costs and prevent chronic diseases by addressing America's growing obesity crisis. Cassidy said the Treat and Reduce Obesity Act could help empower physicians to use all methods and means to fight the condition.
In June 2013, Cassidy supported a House-passed bill that federally banned abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy. Also in 2013, Cassidy circulated a draft letter opposing an immigration reform bill, asking for signatures. Democratic Representative Mark Takano, a high school literature teacher for 23 years, marked it up in red pen like a school assignment and gave it an F, with comments like, "exaggeration -- avoid hyperbole," and "contradicts earlier statement."
In 2014 Cassidy co-sponsored an amendment to the Homeowner Flood Insurance Affordability Act in 2014 to limit annual premium increases for flood insurance, reinstate the flood insurance program's grandfathering provision, and eliminate a provision that required an increase to actuarial levels when a home is sold.
Cassidy was a vocal opponent of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, arguing that it would fail to lower costs and give too much decision-making authority to the federal government. In September 2014, the House passed the Employee Health Care Protection Act of 2013, sponsored by Cassidy, enabling Americans to keep health insurance policies that do not meet all of the Affordable Care Act's requirements. In March 2017, Cassidy sent a letter to one of his constituents that falsely asserted that Obamacare "allows a presidentially handpicked 'Health Choices Commissioner' to determine what coverage and treatments are available to you."
Cassidy supported the Lowering Gasoline Prices to Fuel an America That Works Act of 2014, a bill to revise existing laws regarding the development of oil and gas resources on the Outer Continental Shelf. The bill was intended to increase domestic energy production and lower gas prices. He argued that the bill "would allow us to take advantage of our natural resources and expands our energy manufacturing and construction industries."

Committee assignments (113th Congress)

While in the House of Representatives, Cassidy was a member of many congressional caucuses, including the House Tea Party Caucus and Republican Study Committee.

Elections

2014

Cassidy ran for the U.S. Senate in the 2014 election, in which he was endorsed by Republican Senator David Vitter.
He defeated incumbent Democratic Senator Mary Landrieu in a runoff election, receiving 56% of the vote to Landrieu's 44%. It was the first Republican victory for the seat since William P. Kellogg in 1883.