Louisiana Senator Bill Cassidy is under a lot of pressure because of President Trump’s choice for Surgeon General, Dr. Casey Means. This is happening during a heated GOP primary reelection fight.
Cassidy, who is in charge of the Senate committee that will vote on Means’ nomination, has put off the vote and not endorsed her because of questions about her views on vaccines and her connections to RFK Jr.’s Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) agenda.
He is hesitant because he believes in vaccines, which is at odds with Means’ background as a wellness influencer and criticism of corporate health influences. Trump ally Rep. Julia Letlow, who is now running against Cassidy in the primary, says Cassidy is being disloyal to Trump’s health vision by blocking the nominee.
Letlow, the first Republican woman from Louisiana to be elected to Congress after her husband’s death, ran with Trump’s full support, telling her to “RUN JULIA RUN!!!” She is completely on board with MAHA, naming vaccine skeptic Ralph Abraham as campaign chair and getting help from PACs connected to MAHA.
Treasurer John Fleming is also running in the three-way primary, but Letlow’s main line of attack against Cassidy is that Means’ confirmation has been delayed. Cassidy’s vote to impeach Trump over January 6 has made the president want revenge, making his bid harder even though he has been trying to get along with Cassidy recently.
LetLow paints herself as the real Trump-MAHA champion, saying that voting against Means means being against “Make America Healthy Again.” As of March 2026, Means’ nomination is still stuck in committee, which makes things even more tense in Louisiana’s closed GOP primary.
