Sen. Bill Cassidy’s record of supporting major legislation that funded diversity, equity, and inclusion programs has emerged as a central issue in Louisiana’s 2026 Republican Senate primary, where Trump-endorsed Rep. Julia Letlow and Louisiana Treasurer John Fleming are challenging Cassidy.
Cassidy voted for four major pieces of legislation that created federal diversity offices, embedded equity requirements, and, in some cases, funded programs later canceled or identified by the Trump administration as DEI initiatives: the Fiscal Year 2021 National Defense Authorization Act, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, the CHIPS and Science Act, and the Safer Communities Act.
Cassidy voted for final passage of the FY2021 National Defense Authorization Act and later voted to override President Donald Trump’s veto. The bill created Chief Diversity Officers for the Department of the Navy, Department of the Air Force, and the Coast Guard. It also established a Department of Defense Diversity and Inclusion Advisory Council.
Cassidy also played a leading role in writing and passing the $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. Cassidy was one of the original ten senators who negotiated the bill and became its most prominent Republican advocate.
The infrastructure package included several equity-related provisions. It created the $2.75 billion Digital Equity Act, which directed broadband funding under criteria tied to race and identity. It also incorporated the Biden administration’s Justice40 initiative, requiring 40 percent of infrastructure benefits to flow to disadvantaged communities under an equity framework. In addition, the legislation provided $3.5 billion for direct air capture hubs with climate equity requirements attached to the funding.
The Biden administration later promoted the infrastructure bill as “an opportunity to advance equity in our country.” Cassidy did not merely vote for the bill after it was written; he helped negotiate and draft the legislation that included those provisions from the outset.
Cassidy also voted for the $280 billion CHIPS and Science Act, which passed the Senate 64-33. The law directed the Government Accountability Office to inventory federal research programs aimed at minority-serving institutions, added diversity-related requirements throughout the federal science funding framework, and created a Chief Diversity Officer position at the National Science Foundation.
After the bill became law, the Biden Commerce Department imposed additional diversity and equity requirements on CHIPS funding recipients. Cassidy later criticized those regulations in a letter to the Commerce Department, arguing that the administration had added burdensome requirements. But the law Cassidy voted for had already created a Chief Diversity Officer at the National Science Foundation and included other diversity-focused mandates in federal research funding.
Cassidy was one of the original ten Republican framework negotiators behind the Safer Communities Act and one of only 15 Senate Republicans to vote for final passage of the bill.
The legislation included $750 million for state crisis intervention programs, $1 billion for school safety, and $250 million for community-based violence prevention initiatives. The Trump administration later canceled the community violence prevention grants, explicitly labeling them DEI vehicles.
Cassidy backed each of those four bills while also distancing himself from President Trump.
In February 2021, Cassidy voted to convict Trump during the Senate impeachment trial following the January 6 Capitol riot. After the vote, Cassidy said, “I voted to convict President Trump because he is guilty.”
Cassidy continued to distance himself from Trump after the impeachment vote. In October 2021, he said he would not vote for Trump in the 2024 presidential election and argued that Trump could not win another general election after Republicans lost the House, Senate, and White House during Trump’s first term. Cassidy said, “President Trump is the first president, on the Republican side at least, to lose the House, the Senate and the presidency in four years.” When asked whether he would vote for Trump, Cassidy responded, “I’m not.”
Cassidy repeated that argument in May 2023, saying Trump could not defeat Joe Biden in a general election and pointing to Republican losses in the 2022 midterm elections.
In August 2023, Cassidy said Trump should leave the 2024 race. When asked whether Trump should step aside, Cassidy responded, “I think so.” One month later, Cassidy signaled openness to supporting or joining a No Labels third-party effort rather than backing Trump, saying, “If they came and spoke to me, I would certainly speak to them back.”
Cassidy’s repeated criticism of Trump has fueled growing opposition among Louisiana Republicans. An October 2025 statewide poll showed founding member of the House Freedom Caucus, former Trump administration official, and Louisiana Treasurer John Fleming leading Cassidy 25 percent to 23 percent in the primary and 40 percent to 29 percent in a potential runoff, as Fleming’s campaign touted more than 200 volunteers and over 10,000 signs statewide.
In January, President Donald Trump publicly encouraged Rep. Julia Letlow to challenge Cassidy, calling her a “TOTAL WINNER” and writing, “Should she decide to enter this Race, Julia Letlow has my Complete and Total Endorsement. RUN, JULIA, RUN!!!” Letlow, who had reportedly told advisers she would only run with Trump’s endorsement, announced her Senate campaign days later, saying Louisiana “deserves a conservative Senator who will not waver” and that she was running “to ensure the nation we leave our children is safer and stronger.”
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