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W e d n e s d ay, J a n u a ry 21, 2026
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Letlow to challenge Cassidy for Senate Incumbent has advantage in campaign funds; challenger has support of President Trump
STAFF PHOTO By CHRIS GRANGER
Gov. Jeff Landry and Attorney General Liz Murrill step out from the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans on Tuesday.
Appeals court hears arguments in lawsuit over Commandments in La. schools BY PATRICK WALL Staff writer
to wage a vigorous campaign to retain his seat. “I don’t think the crux of the campaign will be about endorsements. The crux of the campaign will be how to make Louisiana and the United States a better place,” Cassidy told reporters Tuesday afternoon during a hastily-called news conference via Zoom. He believes he is the person doing that, noting billions of dollars he helped secure to prevent flooding and to repair roads and bridges in
A federal appeals court heard arguments Tuesday in a closely watched case centered on Louisiana’s law requiring public schools to post the Ten Commandments, which could have national implications for religious freedom and is expected to end up in the U.S. Supreme Court. The full 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals considered a lawsuit brought by a multifaith group of families seeking to block the 2024 law, which requires public K-12 schools and colleges to display the Ten Commandments in classrooms. The case was combined with one related to a similar law that the Texas Legislature passed last year, provoking a legal challenge by public school parents. The relatively rare review of the cases by the entire court comes after a panel of three 5th Circuit judges last year declared Louisiana’s law “plainly unconstitutional,” upholding a lower court’s ruling. The decision by the full court, which is considered the country’s most conservative federal court of appeals, to rehear the case could signal some disagreement with the panel’s decision, legal observers said. During Tuesday’s hearing, a few judges asked pointed questions about the laws, including how they could constitutionally require schools to post a text from one religion — specifically a Protestant Christian version of the Ten Commandments — when students’ families practice a wide range of religions. But other judges expressed skepticism about the arguments against the law, noting that other texts allowed in schools such as the Pledge of Allegiance reference God and saying
ä See SENATE, page 5A
ä See APPEALS, page 6A
“I don’t think the crux of the campaign will be about endorsements.”
“I have fought alongside President Trump to put America first.”
U.S. SEN. BILL CASSIDy, R-Baton Rouge
U.S. REP. JULIA LETLOW, R-Baton Rouge
Staff writer
ä Race to fill Letlow’s House seat already underway. PAGE 5A
U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy begins the 2026 Senate race with $11 million in the bank, millions of dollars more in a supportive super PAC — and a big problem. U.S. Rep. Julia Letlow told a Baton Rouge crowd Tuesday morning that she is challenging Cassidy, R-Baton Rouge, three days after President Donald Trump said he would back her. Two hours after her announcement, Letlow, R-Baton Rouge, post-
ed a two-minute video that included pictures of her two young children and said, “I have fought alongside President Trump to put America First, standing up for our parents, securing our borders, supporting law enforcement, rooting out waste, fraud and abuse that drives up inflation and fighting to fix an education system too focused on woke ideology instead of teaching.” Nonetheless, Cassidy says he plans
BY TYLER BRIDGES
Trump threats spark outrage from Europe
Scott police chief retiring BY JA’KORI MADISON
BY WILL WEISSERT, JAMEY KEATEN and EMMA BURROWS
Staff writer
Longtime Scott Police Chief Chad Leger announced his retirement at the end of 2026. In a Facebook post he wrote, “It is with a humble heart and great love for our city,” that he will be retiring after nearly four decades in law enforcement. Leger took office as police chief for the city of Scott in January 2003, and in November 2022 he was elected to his sixth term, Leger becoming the longest-serving elected official in the city’s history, according to the department’s website.
ä See RETIRING, page 6A
WEATHER HIGH 68 LOW 50 PAGE 8A
Associated Press
ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By MARKUS SCHREIBER
President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen talks during the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Tuesday.
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump‘s pledge to provoke a sweeping tariff fight with Europe to get his way in taking control of Greenland has left many of America’s closest allies warning of a rupture with Washington capable of shattering the NATO alliance that had once seemed unshakable. The European Union’s top official on Tuesday called Trump’s planned new tariffs over Greenland a “mistake” and questioned Trump’s trustworthiness. French
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President Emmanuel Macron said the EU could retaliate by deploying one of its most powerful economic tools, known colloquially as a trade “bazooka.” Trump prides himself on ratcheting up pressure to try to negotiate through a position of strength. He was leaving Tuesday — the anniversary of his inauguration — for the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, a venue that offers Trump the chance to defuse tensions as quickly as he stirred them up. But European leaders — digging
ä See TRUMP, page 4A
101ST yEAR, NO. 205