Bill Cassidy

In a biography set to publish a week before the election, Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell backed special counsel Jack Smith and said he hopes former President Trump will "pay a price" for his role in Jan. 6th.Why it matters: McConnell has long been a Trump critic, but a new book throws his weight behind some of the most serious federal charges against Trump."If he hasn't committed indictable offenses, I don't know what one is," the longest-serving Republican leader told journalist Michael Tackett in an interview for "The Price of Power," weeks after Smith brought the charges against Trump in August 2023."From the start, McConnell thought the charges brought by federal prosecutors against Trump had merit," Tackett writes.McConnell told him "there's no doubt who inspired it, and I just hope that he'll have to pay a price for it," referencing Jan. 6.Between the lines: Tackett's book reveals just how seriously McConnell considered voting to convict Trump of related impeachment charges in 2021.Conviction could have led to the Senate blocking Trump from running for office again.McConnell explicitly considered the idea, according to one of his oral history interviews done a week after the insurrection.Zoom in: "I'm not at all conflicted about whether what the president did is an impeachable offense. I think it is," McConnell said in the oral history interview, provided to Tackett.Urging an insurrection and people attacking the Capitol "is about as close to an impeachable offense as you can imagine," McConnell added.George Will, a writer close to McConnell, even wrote a column suggesting McConnell would vote "yea."Will sent the early draft to some conservatives — including Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), but then changed the text the next morning. The columnist told Tackett he did not remember writing the earlier version.McConnell ultimately voted to acquit, arguing on the Senate floor that Trump was not eligible for conviction because he was no longer in office."We have a criminal justice system in this country. We have civil litigation. And former presidents are not immune from being accountable by either one," McConnell said after the vote.The intrigue: McConnell went so far as to ask former House Speaker Paul Ryan to set up a secret meeting in 2022 for McConnell to share some of his concerns with Fox founder Rupert Murdoch and his son Lachlan."I don't think Murdoch has been in love with Trump for a long time," McConnell told Tackett.The bottom line: If Trump manages to evade federal consequences, it will be at least in part thanks to one of McConnell's proudest accomplishments — confirming a conservative majority on the U.S. Supreme Court bench.The court ruled in July that presidents have some immunity from prosecution when it involves "official actions."Smith has made his case for what he believes to be prosecutable, and the case is ongoing.

'Lobbyists will often leverage relationships'

From Kannapolis to Durham, college students, and retirees are talking prices and values.

Recently obtained text messages reveal Cheney "apparently defied her ethical responsibilities" while serving as vice chair on the Jan. 6 select committee.

Government spending on Medicare Advantage, which is dominated by big health insurance companies, is expected to hit $462 billion this year.

Child care is often described as a “broken market” for good reason.

'I am reaching the point of total outrage'

Election officials have been targets of harassment and even death threats since the 2020 presidential election, primarily by people acting on Trump’s lies that the election was stolen from him.

Social media posts by Musk are raising concerns that he will use his immense platform to question the legitimacy of the vote in the U.S. presidential election.

Republican senators are calling on Secret Service to increase security for former President Donald Trump in the wake of a second assassination attempt.

WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy on Monday asked President Joe Biden to start the process for approving an emergency declaration in anticipation of Tropical Storm Francine coming ashore in Louisiana — likely as a hurricane — later this week.

Some songs have become intertwined with campaigns, from Lee Greenwood's "God Bless the U.S.A.," to Beyoncé's "Freedom." But sometimes artists don't want their songs to be used by a particular candidate – and sometimes they sue!

California's AB 1780, banning legacy admissions at private colleges, passed the Assembly and Senate and now awaits Gov. Gavin Newsom's approval.

When Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris picked her running mate earlier this month, she chose a politician many undecided voters are used to seeing: a white-haired, Midwestern man with typical American values.

U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy speak in Broussard, LA on August 22, 2024

It's been eight years since top Colorado politicians appeared on stage at either parties' national convention, but this summer a trio of Democrats regained some of the footing the state's leading political lights had grown accustomed to in recent decades.

By The Associated Press The Democratic National Convention heads into its second day Tuesday. Former President Barack Obama, Michelle Obama and second gentleman Doug Emhoff will speak at the DNC, a day after the unofficial farewell for President Joe Biden, who served eight years as Obama’s vice president. Biden won’t be in the hall to [...]

Bill Clinton spent two terms in the White House from 1993 until 2001. Following his own presidential term, he supported his wife, Hillary, in her run for office in 2016.

Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., participates in a news conference n the Capitol on March 14.

The Senate passed a bill by a 91-3 vote, designed to protect kids from dangerous online content; it forces companies to take steps to prevent harm on online platforms frequently by minors.

'Passed the Senate in a 91-3 vote'

Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer said the vote was a step in "the most important update in decades to federal laws to protecting kids on the internet."

Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer said social media “can do a lot of good things, but it also can lead to serious health risks that we cannot ignore.”

The Senate plans to vote this week on a pair of children’s online safety bills, KOSA and COPPA 2.0, though the tech bills' future in the House is less clear.

The presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris, at a campaign rally in Milwaukee on Tuesday.

House Administration Chairman Bryan Steil, seen here in 2023, this week hailed the fall of Chevron deference as a chance to “rein in the administrative state.”

Tennessee Rep. Scott DesJarlais is one of 14 GOP doctors in Congress who a Democratic political group is targeting for opposing abortion rights.

Tennessee Rep. Scott DesJarlais is one of 14 GOP doctors in Congress who a Democratic political group is targeting for opposing abortion rights.

Congress needs to actually get into the details and pin down the source of the problem — and then provide some direction.

Manhattan: A lot of New Yorkers looking at the affordable housing lotteries scratch their heads, wondering why most apartment units are destined for households earning $100,000 or more per year. The median household income in New York City is $70,000, and for those that do not own a home but are renters, it is $60,000.

Sen. Bill Cassidy and the HELP committee to reveal their findings after investigating transgender participation's affect on female athletes.

Sen. Bill Cassidy and the HELP committee to reveal their findings after investigating transgender participation's affect on female athletes.

The group’s 0-for-13 track record at candidate recruitment is a brutal admission that, whatever its flashy marketing may suggest, few knowledgeable political players have faith in its mission to create a nonpartisan presidential ticket.

'You haven’t endorsed him yet,' Welker pressed

'You haven’t endorsed him yet,' Welker pressed

Sen. Bill Cassidy, Louisiana Republican, said Sunday he would not support former President Donald Trump's efforts to pardon those charged with crimes related to the storming of the U.S. Capitol in 2021.

"It is time to reduce the stress level in our country," Sanders says of the “Thirty-Two Hour Work Week Act”

Insisting it was "not a radical idea," the progressive senator said that his legislation would "allow Americans to enjoy a better quality of life."

Democrats are going on the attack after former President Trump raised the possibility of cuts to Social Security and Medicare. Trump said in a Monday interview there’s “a lot” that can be done on entitlements “in terms of cutting,” a comment President Biden immediately seized on. The Biden campaign quickly released a new ad, contrasting [...]

Democrats are going on the attack after former President Trump raised the possibility of cuts to Social Security and Medicare. Trump said in a Monday interview there’s “a lot” that can be done on entitlements “in terms of cutting,” a comment President Biden immediately seized on. The Biden campaign quickly released a new ad, contrasting [...]

Democrats are going on the attack after former President Trump raised the possibility of cuts to Social Security and Medicare. Trump said in a Monday interview there’s “a lot” that can be done on entitlements “in terms of cutting,” a comment President Biden immediately seized on. The Biden campaign quickly released a new ad, contrasting [...]

Democrats are going on the attack after former President Trump raised the possibility of cuts to Social Security and Medicare. Trump said in a Monday interview there’s “a lot” that can be done on entitlements “in terms of cutting,” a comment President Biden immediately seized on. The Biden campaign quickly released a new ad, contrasting [...]

Lawmakers sounded off on how President Biden's State of the Union address went on Thursday night.

Biden's "angry" State of the Union address gave Republicans another reason to doubt his mental faculties on Thursday night.

Live updates: Biden and Trump advance to the general election as Nikki Haley drops out

Hospitals account for a significant amount of healthcare’s enormous 550 million metric ton greenhouse gas (GHG) footprint.