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WASHINGTON — <\/span>Returning to the U.S. Capitol after a stinging primary reelection loss<\/a>, Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana said Monday evening that he has no regrets about his \u201cmomentous\u201d vote to convict President Donald Trump on impeachment charges five years ago. <\/p>\n \u201cI voted to uphold the Constitution. It may have cost me my seat, but who cares?\u201d Cassidy told reporters in the Capitol. \u201cI had the privilege of voting to uphold the Constitution, isn\u2019t that a great thing?\u201d <\/p>\n Cassidy lost his seat in his state\u2019s Republican primary Saturday after Trump endorsed one of his opponents<\/a>, and after years of trying to convince his voters that he was still supportive of the president<\/a> even though he had voted to convict Trump<\/a> in a Senate impeachment trial after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol<\/a>. <\/p>\n But after years of curtly dodging questions about his impeachment vote \u2014 and often saying nothing at all when pressed in the Capitol hallways \u2014 Cassidy now says he feels \u201cgreat.\u201d <\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019re 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,\u201d Cassidy said. “Wouldn\u2019t all of us want to say, I voted to support the Constitution on something momentous? That\u2019s the way I feel about it. I\u2019m very pleased about it.\u201d <\/p>\n He now joins a club of Republican lawmakers who have crossed Trump and lost. It remains unclear whether he will join GOP colleagues like North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis, who has become more outspoken since he announced his retirement last year. Cassidy wouldn\u2019t directly criticize Trump on Monday evening, saying that \u201cpeople want me to say negative things, but I\u2019m saying positive things.\u201d <\/p>\n Still, he did hint that he may have more to say, telling reporters he is undecided on how he will vote on the next Democratic measure to halt the Iran war and criticizing a new nearly $1.8 billion fund to compensate Trump allies<\/a> who believe they have been unjustly investigated and persecuted \u2014 potentially including people who were prosecuted and later pardoned for their roles in the Jan. 6 Capitol attack. <\/p>\n As Cassidy reflected on his two terms in the Senate, his GOP colleagues still loyal to Trump were mostly quiet or dispassionate about his loss. <\/p>\n \u201cBill\u2019s loss was predictable, and Bill knew it,\u201d said his Louisiana colleague, Republican Sen. John Kennedy.<\/p>\n Kennedy said Cassidy decided to run anyway, \u201cand I respect that, and I thank him for his service. We\u2019re running on to a runoff now and we\u2019ve got two fine people in the runoff.\u201d <\/p>\n Cassidy’s vote to convict Trump five years ago \u201cwas an issue, there\u2019s no question,\u201d Kennedy said. <\/p>\n South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, one of Trump\u2019s closest allies, said on NBC\u2019s \u201cMeet the Press\u201d Sunday that \u201cthose who try to destroy Trump politically, stand in the way of his agenda, are going to lose.\u201d <\/p>\n Trump agreed, posting over the weekend on social media that \u201cit\u2019s nice to see that his political career is OVER!\u201d<\/p>\n Only Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski, one of six other Republicans who voted to convict Trump in his second impeachment trial, said she regrets that Cassidy won\u2019t be returning to the Senate. <\/p>\n His defeat \u201ccertainly has implications for us here,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019ve appreciated working with him and his leadership.\u201d <\/p>\n 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 Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.<\/a> even after questioning Kennedy\u2019s skepticism of vaccines. As a doctor and the chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, Cassidy\u2019s vote was crucial. <\/p>\n Cassidy wouldn\u2019t say Monday if he regretted that vote. He compared the vote to a bad date in high school and said \u201clife is lived forward.\u201d <\/p>\n He was more outspoken about Trump\u2019s new \u201canti-weaponization fund,\u201d which is part of a settlement that resolves the president’s lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service over the leak of his tax returns. <\/p>\n While other Republicans dodged questions on the fund as they returned to Washington on Monday evening, telling reporters they didn\u2019t know enough about it or just declining to weigh in, Cassidy said he doesn\u2019t see any precedent for it. <\/p>\n \u201cWe are a nation of laws,\u201d Cassidy said. \u201cYou can\u2019t just make up things.\u201d<\/p>\n Congress should have a say, he said, adding that people he met on the campaign trail \u201care concerned about making their own ends meet, not about putting the slush fund together without a legal precedent.\u201d <\/p>\n Cassidy\u2019s support for Trump’s conviction in the February 2021 impeachment trial was a surprise, after the mild-mannered doctor had been mostly supportive of \u2014 or at least reluctant to challenge \u2014 Trump through his first term. He wrestled with how to vote for days beforehand and declined to comment on the trial before casting his vote. <\/p>\n