President Joe Biden and Democrats are using the clause for Texas’ new abortion law to distract themselves from other issues, including Afghanistan, Sen. Bill Cassidy said Sunday, R-La.
“[The Supreme Court’s decision] it had nothing to do with Roe’s constitutionality against Wade, only if the plaintiffs were entitled, people use it to grow their base to distract themselves from the disastrous policies in Afghanistan, perhaps by fundraising appeals. background, “Cassidy told ABC.” This week, “we present George Stephanopoulos.” I would like us to focus on issues instead of, instead of theater. “
The new and severe Texas abortion law bans almost all abortions in the state. The law makes most abortions illegal after six weeks of pregnancy and encourages anyone to sue a person they believe is having an abortion or helping someone get an abortion after six weeks.
In a 5-4 ruling released Wednesday night, the Supreme Court rejected a request from Texas abortion providers to block the new law.
Cassidy said the Supreme Court will “delete” it once the law reaches them “properly.”
“If it’s as terrible as people say, it will be destroyed by the Supreme Court,” Cassidy added. “But acting like that is an assault on Roe against Wade. Once again, the president is doing something I think to distract himself from his other problems.”
Led by Stephanopoulos over whether he believes the Supreme Court decision indicates that they plan to overthrow Roe against Wade, Cassidy deviated, instead of raising Hurricane Ida, Afghanistan and the bipartisan infrastructure agreement.
“We can always talk theoretically,” Cassidy replied. “But I’m a kind of guy who is in the middle of a state where 700,000 people have no electricity, in which we have a disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan and the administration is pushing a $ 3.5 trillion bill that it will be inflation that led to the withdrawal in Afghanistan. “
The debate over the $ 3.5 trillion reconciliation bill that many Democrats are calling for to pass in conjunction with the bipartisan infrastructure deal that Cassidy helped negotiate continues. On Thursday, Sen. Joe Manchin, DW.Va., wrote an opinion in the Wall Street Journal calling for a “strategic break” in the budget resolution that Democrats took the first step toward passing last month.
Stephanopoulos asked Cassidy if Manchin’s opinion actually kills the bill.
“Have you seen Senator Joe Manchin’s statement this week. As for you, is this going to kill the bill? And if it does, are you worried that the bipartisan infrastructure bill, the smallest one you support, will also die? “Stephanopoulos will ask.
“Implicitly what Joe said is that he would accept a smaller bill,” Cassidy replied. “I think a smaller bill is disastrous, but on the other hand, the two are disengaged.”
“On September 27, there will be a vote on the bipartisan infrastructure bill,” Cassidy added. “The fact that Joe is saying he has to negotiate means the vote on the $ 3.5 trillion inflation bill that will come later will come later.”
Cassidy said he worries that if Manchin’s opposition persists, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi would not pass the smaller bipartisan bill.
“Of course I care about that, that’s why I want Republicans to vote for it, too,” Cassidy said. “It should not be a party line vote in the House, not in the Senate.”
The infrastructure bill includes provisions for disaster mitigation, which Cassidy raised, encouraging those who plan to vote not to tell people without power because of Hurricane Ida.
“I say go down to the parish of Lafourche and Terrebonne, to the people who will have no electricity until September 29 and I will tell them that you will vote against a bill that will harden our network, which gives dollars to coastal restoration, which has flood mitigation, which will build dikes and protect Louisiana and other states from natural disasters, go to those parishes and tell them any reason why you should vote no, ”Cassidy said.
Hurricane Ida made landfall on August 26, 16 years after the day after Hurricane Katrina in 2005. The hurricane has left at least 67 dead in eight states.
On Thursday, Cassidy wrote a letter to Biden calling for disaster emergency assistance for Louisiana and met with him in his state on Friday.
Asked if he is satisfied with Biden’s initial response, Cassidy told Stephanopoulos that the situation is improving.
“Federal partners have been there,” Cassidy said. “And so I congratulate the federal partners and thank them for that, but we need gasoline, we need electricity, and we need housing. And then we have to approve the long-term bipartisan infrastructure bill.”