WASHINGTON – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, introduced the Monitor Accountability Act, legislation to set clear rules for federal court-appointed monitors that oversee state and local government agencies.

Federal courts often appoint monitors to track compliance with consent decrees or court orders involving state and local governments, including police departments. These monitors can review major policy changes, shape what compliance means, and influence how long local governments can remain under federal supervision.

Despite that power, court-appointed monitors operate with few statutory limits on their fees, tenure, or public accountability. The Monitor Accountability Act would add basic guardrails to help prevent monitorships from becoming expensive, indefinite arrangements that drain taxpayer dollars or undermine local control.

“Federal court monitors can serve an important purpose, but taxpayers should not have to fund open-ended monitorships that drag on for years without basic accountability. We basically let government contractors decide whether their own government contract keeps going. The Monitor Accountability Act would cap fees, limit terms and bring transparency to a system operating for far too long on autopilot,” said Kennedy.

In Louisiana, New Orleans spent more than a decade under a federal consent decree governing the New Orleans Police Department. In 2013, the Eastern District of Louisiana appointed Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton LLP as the monitor after the Obama Justice Department and the City of New Orleans disagreed over which monitor to appoint. Shepard Mullin also happened to be the preferred choice of the Obama Administration.

The monitor’s initial contract was structured as a four-year arrangement capped at $8.9 million. But the monitor repeatedly argued that New Orleans required longer supervision and the contract ultimately lasted roughly 12 years and cost taxpayers approximately $20 million. In 2022, New Orleans moved to terminate the consent decree, but the Biden Justice Department opposed the city’s request. In 2025, the Trump Justice Department joined New Orleans in seeking to end the decree. 

Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.) introduced companion legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives. The House passed H.R. 8365, the Monitor Accountability Act, on May 14, 2026. 

Background: 

The Monitor Accountability Act would apply to court orders affecting state and local governments to:

• Limit the amount of fees that court-appointed monitors collect.

• Prohibit the same monitor from serving for more than five years.

• Require a notice-and-comment period before a court appoints a monitor.

• Require annual public accounting of monitor costs and activities.

• Add transparency and accountability to federal monitorships.

Full text of the Monitor Accountability Act is available here.

WASHINGTON – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.), a member of the Senate Banking Committee, joined Sen. Andy Kim (D-N.J.) in introducing the Export Control Reform Act of 2018 (ECRA) Penalty Increase Act, bipartisan legislation to strengthen penalties for individuals and companies that violate U.S. export control laws.

The bill would increase civil penalties for unlawfully exporting, re-exporting or transferring sensitive American technology to foreign adversaries and other bad actors. The legislation would help ensure that penalties are strong enough to deter violations involving technology that could threaten U.S. national security.

“America’s enemies are not stealing our technology so they can build better toasters. They want our chips, software and sensitive technology to strengthen their militaries, spy on Americans and undercut our national security. If a company or individual illegally hands over American technology to our adversaries, a slap on the wrist will not cut it. This bill ensures the punishment fits the threat,” said Kennedy.

“To successfully deter export control violations, we need penalties that truly recognize the gravity of their threat to our national security. The legislation would take a long-overdue step to modernize enforcement authorities and put us in a much stronger position to stop the transfer of sensitive technologies to America’s adversaries,” said Kim.

Background:

The Export Control Reform Act of 2018 gave the federal government important tools to control the export, re-export and transfer of sensitive U.S. technologies. These controls help prevent American technology from falling into the hands of America’s enemies, hostile regimes and other entities that could threaten our national security. 

As the strategic importance and the commercial value of American technology have grown, ECRA’s civil penalty structure has not kept pace. The ECRA Penalty Increase Act would modernize those penalties so violations carry real consequences.

The ECRA Penalty Increase Act would:

• Increase the statutory maximum civil penalty from $300,000 to $1.2 million per violation.

• Increase the transaction-based penalty from twice the value of the unlawful transaction to four times the value.
• Ensure individuals and companies that illegally transfer sensitive American technology face consequences that match the seriousness of the violation.

• Strengthen enforcement tools to deter unlawful transfers of critical technologies to foreign adversaries and bad actors.

Full text of the ECRA Penalty Increase Act is available here.

WASHINGTON – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.), a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, joined Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) and seven bipartisan colleagues in applauding the passage of their Preventing Adversary Influence, Disinformation and Obscured Foreign Financing (PAID) Act out of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. This legislation would close critical loopholes by requiring agents working on behalf of America’s enemies to register under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), providing full transparency on their operations.

“Foreign agents working for our adversaries like China and Iran shouldn’t be able to hide in the shadows while they try to bend American policy to their will. If you’re being paid to push the interests of our enemies, the American people deserve to know who is signing the checks and what you’re up to. The PAID OFF Act strengthens our disclosure laws and ensures full transparency,” said Kennedy.

“American policy should not in any way reflect the handiwork of foreign adversaries who are actively working to tip the scales in their favor and undermine our interests. By exposing the efforts of countries of concern like China or Russia to exert malign influence, this legislation would better safeguard U.S. decision making,” said Cornyn.

Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), Jim Risch (R-Idaho), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), Peter Welch (D-Vt.), and Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.) joined Kennedy and Cornyn in supporting the bill.

“When foreign adversaries skirt loopholes to lobby Congress, they directly threaten our democracy. This bipartisan legislation is long overdue and will help prevent unregistered foreign agents from putting a thumb on the scale of American policy,” said Whitehouse.

“For years, the United States’ biggest adversaries have exploited loopholes in U.S. lobbying laws to influence senior government officials and advance their geopolitical goals. Well-known examples include Russia’s efforts to prevent sanctions against its Nord Stream 2 pipeline and Chinese surveillance firm Hikvision’s attempts to avoid sanctions. This provision will close key loopholes to ensure transparency and accountability of malign foreign lobbying efforts in the United States,” said Risch.

“Foreign adversaries like China and Russia should never be allowed to covertly influence American policy or public opinion. I’m proud this bipartisan legislation passed out of committee so we can close dangerous loopholes and strengthen our national security,” said Tillis.

“Americans ought to know if a foreign government is attempting to sway policy decisions in the United States. I applaud the Senate Foreign Relations Committee for advancing our bipartisan PAID OFF Act, which will close loopholes to ensure unregistered foreign agents can no longer secretly stick their noses in American politics,” said Grassley.

“Our foreign adversaries are working hard to gain influence over U.S. politics. We need to reform FARA – the law requiring foreign agents to disclose who they’re working for – so we can better expose those who are quietly working on behalf of foreign governments. I thank Senator Cornyn for leading this important bill – let’s get it over the finish line,” said Fischer.

“With one of the highest rates of misinformation and disinformation in the world, it’s no wonder that the American people are losing trust in our democratic institutions. Foreign adversaries have exacerbated that distrust by using loopholes in U.S. lobbying laws to undermine U.S. decision-making and influence politics. Congress must pass this bipartisan legislation to close these loopholes, protect our national security, and hold bad actors accountable,” said Welch.

Rep. August Pfluger (R-Texas) introduced the companion legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Background:

The PAID OFF Act would:

• Increase transparency requirements for foreign agents working on behalf of countries of concern, including adversarial regimes such as China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, Cuba, and Syria.
• Target loopholes in FARA that can allow foreign agents to avoid fully disclosing their lobbying and influence efforts in the United States.
• Help Congress, the Department of Justice, and the American people better identify when foreign adversaries are trying to shape U.S. policy or public opinion by requiring more agents tied to foreign governments or commercial entities to register under FARA.

Full text of the PAID OFF Act is available here.

Watch Kennedy’s comments here.

WASHINGTON – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) explained why he is optimistic about the memorandum of understanding that the Trump administration struck with Iran and the possibility of regional peace in a speech on the U.S. Senate floor.

Key excerpts of the speech are below:

“I read the memorandum of understanding between the United States and Iran. I read it twice. And, for what it’s worth, here’s my conclusion: I think we ought to give peace a chance, and that’s all I’m saying today. You’re entitled to your opinion, but all I’m saying today is I think we ought to give peace a chance.”

. . . 

“Here’s what I see in the document. The only certainty, the only practical, real consequence of this document is that for 60 days, America has removed its blockade of the Strait of Hormuz. And for 60 days, Iran has removed its blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, which means ships containing oil and natural gas and fertilizer can go back and forth, just like they were before the conflict started. The other practical consequence is that Iran will be able to start selling its oil again, for 60 days.

“The other thing that we’re certain of is that as a result of this agreement, the price of oil is going down. And, as a result of that, the price of gasoline is going down. And, as a result of the Strait of Hormuz being open, the price of fertilizer, for example, and other commodities that go through are coming down. And that’s a good thing. And that’s all we know.”

. . .

“I trust the Iranian government like I trust gas station sushi. . . . But Iran today, its public and private sector, is held together with spit and duct tape. All the president has done is said, ‘Okay, for 60 days I’m going to give peace a chance and give you a chance to say what you say is what you’re going to do. 60 days. That’s it. 

“I hope it works out. I’ve got my doubts. But the president is taking a big risk here, and he’s been roundly criticized by my Democrat friends, which I don’t really get. . . . I think we ought to give peace a chance. It’s only 60 days. And we’re just going to have to trust the president on this one, but we’ll know soon. And I hope it works. I hope our giving peace a chance makes peace possible.”

Watch Kennedy’s speech here.