In treatment for cancer, former U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy urges Congress to step up – Vermont Public

It’s been almost two and half years since Senator Patrick Leahy stepped down from office. First elected in 1974, Leahy served 8 terms in the U.S. Senate giving him the third longest tenure in the history of that chamber. Leahy was recently diagnosed with metastatic skin cell cancer and is undergoing treatment.
Vermont Public’s Bob Kinzel recently sat down and talked with Leahy. They discussed Leahy’s cancer diagnosis and his successful treatment – as well as Leahy’s thoughts about several current political issues. This interview was produced for the ear. We highly recommend listening to the audio. We’ve also provided a transcript, which has been edited for length and clarity.
Bob Kinzel: You’ve recently had a bout with cancer. How are you doing?
Patrick Leahy: Well, if I had my choice of having it or not having it, but fortunately it’s curable, and they use a process called immunotherapy. They try that instead of surgery to eradicate the tumor, which is in one place, and it’s been working. There’s only one drawback, you get really tired, and it affects my voice. But, you know, we go out for long walks, and it feels good. Being home makes all the difference.
Bob Kinzel: Your prognosis is good.
Patrick Leahy: Oh yeah, it’s very good. The doctors say it goes to this part, this part, this part, and you’re done, and they’re all confident.
Bob Kinzel: That’s very good news.
Patrick Leahy: Well, I prefer that to the alternative.
Bob Kinzel: I wanted to talk to you about Joe Biden. You’ve known Joe Biden for over 50 years. He’s a very good friend of yours. You know, in the last few months, there have been a lot of questions raised about his mental capacities in the last two years of his presidency. What are your thoughts on this subject?
Patrick Leahy: I wasn’t there the last two years of his presidency. I had already retired, but the first two years where we had the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and I saw Joe Biden go to each one of our NATO allies. He got every one of them to come together and support us in standing up against Russia and the dictator in Russia.
Bob Kinzel: What did you think, though, when you saw Joe Biden at that first presidential debate, where his performance seemed to alarm a lot of people. Did you watch that debate?
Patrick Leahy: I did, and I was concerned. I did not talk with him about it. Everybody was calling him. I figured the last thing he needed was advice from a former senator.
Bob Kinzel: In retrospect, do you think it was a mistake for him to be a candidate for reelection in 2024
Patrick Leahy: In retrospect, I wish, well, you can’t rewrite history, but I wish after the victories he had with NATO, the victories he had bringing our economy back, the victories he had in fighting COVID, the victories he had in getting people back to work, all of those victories getting both national and international praise, he said, it would have been good if he said, I really am proud to have been president, and I wish well to the next president. You know, and I don’t want to compare being in the Senate to being president. It’s not the same by any means. I could have easily been reelected. I said, No, I want to go home.
Bob Kinzel: You know, there have been dozens of lawsuits filed by states to block some of the actions of the Trump administration because they believe that they usurp the authority of Congress. It’s likely that many of these cases will be decided by the U.S. Supreme Court. Now you’re very familiar with the makeup of the court. I think you were involved in the confirmation hearings of all nine of the current justices
Patrick Leahy: And a few before them.
Bob Kinzel: And you voted for John Roberts.
Patrick Leahy: Yes.
Bob Kinzel: How confident are you that the Supreme Court will find that many of Trump’s initiatives are unconstitutional?
Patrick Leahy: I’m confident they’re going to find some of them. You have some people who never accept the idea that a Republican could do something wrong. There are so many things that have been done that are so blatantly unconstitutional. You see Republican and Democratic judges throw them out. What I worry is that you become almost a judicial overwhelm, and people stop doing that. And I keep asking, when is the House and the Senate going to stand up on things that they know are totally unconstitutional and say it and I think the worst thing is the Congress just rolls over and plays dead. Your house members say, ‘Well, we work for him.’ No, you’re elected on your own. You’re a separate branch of government.

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