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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
sissippi River to the Monroe area, where Letlow lived when she first was elected in 2021. “It’s a wide-open race,” said Woody Jenkins, a former state representative who chairs the Republican Party in East Baton Rouge Parish.
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 that the Ten Commandments posters fall short of government coercion to practice a particular religion. “Nobody’s telling the kids they have to look up at everything that’s posted on the walls,” said
ä See HOUSE, page 8A
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
BY TYLER BRIDGES Staff writer
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, posted 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 ideol-
ogy instead of teaching.” Nonetheless, Cassidy says he plans 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
ä See SENATE, page 8A
Race to fill Letlow’s House seat underway BY TYLER BRIDGES
Several state legislators and others said Tuesday they will get into the race or are looking closely at it. About half of the district is in The race to win U.S. Rep Julia Letlow’s 5th Congressional District metro Baton Rouge after the state — after she announced Tuesday that Legislature redrew congressional she is giving up the seat to run for boundaries several years ago. The Senate — begins with no clear front- other half includes the Florida Parrunner. ishes and the parishes up the Mis-
Staff writer
Trump threats spark outrage from EU BY WILL WEISSERT, JAMEY KEATEN and EMMA BURROWS Associated Press
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.
WEATHER HIGH 66 LOW 54 PAGE 8B
The European Union’s top official on Tuesday called Trump’s planned new tariffs over Greenland a “mistake” and questioned Trump’s trustworthiness. French 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 in and vowing to defend Denmark and its control over semiautonomous Greenland — may be seeking just as hard to
ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By MARKUS SCHREIBER
President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen talks during the annual meeting of the World Economic ä See TRUMP, page 4A Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Tuesday.
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