NOW PLAYING
Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) on Sunday said that President Trump ending the Iran war soon is something that “seems unlikely,” suggesting that the president go to Congress to find a path toward peace.
“At this point, I do think there needs to be a fuller national discussion as to how we go forward,” Cassidy said on CNN’s “State of the Union” with Dana Bash. “If the president wraps this up quickly, it seems unlikely, but they seem to reassure that it can happen. OK, that’s fine.”
“If it doesn’t happen, then again, the president needs to come to Congress [and] the American people and say, ‘These are the facts,’ and then we have a conversation,” he added.
The Republican lawmaker noted that Congress will “need to trigger that conversation.” Bash said this could only happen if members of Congress “force him to do it by law.”
“Yes –– put it this way. Theoretically, the president knows things that we don’t know, and it may be that we’re on the cusp of bringing this to completion,” Cassidy said. “They do have intelligence, and it’s shown to be pretty good as to private conversations among the leaders of Iran.”
Cassidy has been a critic of Trump’s handling of the war, particularly on its effect on the cost of living. Iran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz has caused gas prices to soar, twice raising the national average at the pump to over $4.
In May, after losing his bid to keep his Senate seat, Cassidy was one of four Republican senators who voted to advance a war powers resolution directing Trump to withdraw U.S. armed forces deployed against Iran.
Saturday marked the first night in almost two weeks where the U.S. did not launch overnight strikes on Iran. Both sides have accused the other of violating an interim deal both countries signed to last month, a deal that would reopen the Strait of Hormuz and lead to the lifting of sanctions and an end to all hostilities.
Former Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said that U.S. intelligence shows that continuing strikes will not bring Iran back to the negotiating table.
“And at the same time, the American people are paying a very heavy price as a result of oil prices going sky high and the cost of living increasing as much as it is,” he told CNN in an interview last week, comparing the drawn-out nature of the war to the Vietnam War.
The war has extended to the Red Sea as the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen set up a blockade to prevent Saudi exports from exiting the region. The Houthis launched missiles and drones at Saudi Arabia on Saturday, with a Houthi spokesperson saying the strikes were in retaliation for Saudi attacks on Yemen’s coastal city of Hodeida.
Add as preferred source on Google Tags Bill Cassidy Dana Bash Donald Trump Leon PanettaCopyright 2026 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Comments: Link copiedMore Senate News
See All
Senate Van Hollen: Trump hit Saudi Arabia with ‘bait and switch’ by tying Israel relations to nuclear deal by Ryan Mancini 1 hour ago Senate / 1 hour ago 
