1. William Morgan Cassidy was born on September 28,1957 and is an American physician and politician serving as the senior United States senator from Louisiana, a seat he has held since 2015.
41 Facts About Bill Cassidy
1. 2.
Bill Cassidy was elected to the Senate in 2014, defeating Democratic incumbent Mary Landrieu.
3.
In 2023, after Trump was indicted for mishandling classified documents, Bill Cassidy called for Trump to drop out of the 2024 presidential election.
4.
Bill Cassidy has since indicated some support for Trump's initiatives.
5.
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.
6.
Bill Cassidy 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.
7.
In 1998, Bill 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.
8.
Bill Cassidy has 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.
9.
Bill Cassidy was first elected to the Louisiana State Senate in 2006 as a Republican.
10.
Bill Cassidy 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.
11.
On December 9,2006, Bill Cassidy won a special election for the District 16 seat in the Louisiana Senate.
12.
Bill Cassidy likely owed his victory to the independent candidacy of state representative Michael L Jackson.
13.
In May 2009, Bill 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.
14.
Bill Cassidy 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.
15.
In December 2010, Cassidy voted to extend the tax cuts enacted during the administration of President George W Bush.
16.
Bill Cassidy voted for the Constitutional Balanced Budget Amendment of 2011.
17.
In 2013, due to the American Medical Association's decision to officially recognize obesity as a disease, Senators and Representatives, including Bill Cassidy, helped introduce legislation to lower health care costs and prevent chronic diseases by addressing America's growing obesity crisis.
18.
Bill Cassidy said the Treat and Reduce Obesity Act could help empower physicians to use all methods and means to fight the condition.
19.
In June 2013, Cassidy supported a House-passed bill that federally banned abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy.
20.
Also in 2013, Cassidy circulated a draft letter opposing an immigration reform bill, asking for signatures.
21.
In 2014 Bill 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.
22.
Bill 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.
23.
Bill Cassidy ran for the US Senate in the 2014 election, in which he was endorsed by Republican Senator David Vitter.
24.
Bill Cassidy responded to Kimmel, saying that Kimmel "doesn't understand" the legislation.
25.
Bill Cassidy was in attendance during the 2021 United States Electoral College vote count when Trump supporters stormed the United States Capitol.
26.
Bill Cassidy was one of seven Republican senators to vote to convict Trump of incitement of insurrection in his second impeachment trial.
27.
Bill Cassidy was praised by several Democrats, including his predecessor Mary Landrieu.
28.
On May 27,2021, along with five other Republicans and all Democrats, Bill Cassidy voted to establish a bipartisan commission to investigate the January 6 storming of the US Capitol.
29.
In 2023, after Trump was indicted for mishandling classified documents, Bill Cassidy called for Trump to drop out of the 2024 presidential election.
30.
When Trump won the Republican nomination, Bill Cassidy declined to endorse him.
31.
In July 2019, Cassidy was one of eight senators to introduce the Agricultural Trucking Relief Act, a bill that would alter the definition of an agricultural commodity to include both horticultural and aquacultural products and promote greater consistency in regulation by federal and state agencies as part of an attempt to ease regulatory burdens on trucking and the agri-community.
32.
In October 2023, Bill Cassidy visited China as part of a bipartisan congressional delegation led by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and met with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
33.
In January 2024, Bill Cassidy voted against a resolution proposed by Senator Bernie Sanders to apply the human rights provisions of the Foreign Assistance Act to US aid to Israel's military.
34.
In January 2019, Cassidy was one of 31 Republican senators to cosponsor the Constitutional Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act, a bill introduced by John Cornyn and Ted Cruz that would allow people with concealed-carry privileges in their home state to exercise this right in any other state with concealed-carry laws while concurrently abiding by that state's laws.
35.
In May 2022, after the Robb Elementary School shooting, Bill Cassidy reaffirmed his opposition to banning any kind of guns, including assault rifles such as the AR-15.
36.
Bill Cassidy later became one of ten Republican senators to support a bipartisan agreement on gun control, which included a red flag provision, a support for state crisis intervention orders, funding for school safety resources, stronger background checks for buyers under the age of 21, and penalties for straw purchases.
37.
Bill Cassidy opposes abortion after 20 weeks and any federal funding for abortion.
38.
Bill Cassidy was among the 31 Senate Republicans who voted against final passage of the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023.
39.
Bill Cassidy said he struggled to decide whether to vote to confirm Kennedy because of his ethics as a doctor.
40.
Bill Cassidy said he received "commitments" from Kennedy to meet with Bill Cassidy several times a month, give advance notice to Congress if he imposes any changes to vaccine safety monitoring, and not to have the CDC remove from its website statements that vaccines do not cause autism.
41.
Bill Cassidy worked as a gastroenterologist at the facility until it closed in 2013.