WASHINGTON – Sens. John Kennedy (R-La.) and Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.) today reintroduced the Service-Disabled Veteran Opportunities in Small Business Act to help disabled veterans’ small businesses thrive.

Kennedy and Ossoff have proposed their legislation as an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), Congress’s annual defense spending and policy bill.

“America owes a debt of gratitude to every veteran who sacrifices for our country. Our bill would do right by service-disabled veterans by making sure government agencies are giving their small businesses a fair shake,” said Kennedy.

“Service-disabled veterans have made huge sacrifices in our national defense. That's why Senator Kennedy and I are introducing this bipartisan bill to support small businesses run by service-disabled veterans in Georgia and nationwide,” said Ossoff.

Reps. Nick LaLota (R-N.Y.) and Morgan McGarvey (D-Ky.) introduced the companion bill in the U.S. House of Representatives.

The Small Business Administration (SBA) currently offers a program to allocate certain contracts to service-disabled veterans’ small businesses. The Service-Disabled Veterans Opportunities in Small Business Act would: 

• Require the SBA to issue guidance to meet goals for extending contracts to small businesses owned by service-disabled veterans more effectively.

• Provide training for federal agencies that fail to meet contracting goals.

• Require the SBA to issue a report to Congress detailing a list of each federal agency that failed to meet its contracting goals.

Full text of the bill is available here.

Full text of Kennedy and Ossoff’s amendment to the NDAA is available here.

Watch Kennedy’s comments here. 

WASHINGTON – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) delivered the following remarks on the U.S. Senate floor:

“Let me start with the reconciliation bill, which President Trump and others called the One Big Beautiful Bill.

“I continue to go through the bill, and every time I do, I’m impressed. This is a breathtaking bill in the sense that it covers so many subjects. I think each of us could spend hours talking about this bill. I'll just hit the highlights. This is one of the most far-reaching pieces of legislation that this body will ever pass.

“We extended the 2017 tax cuts—no small feat in itself. Had we not done that, the American people would have suffered under a $4.3 trillion tax increase. So, we stopped that tax increase. And some of my friends and colleagues talk about, ‘Well, all you did was stop a tax increase on the billionaires.’ That is nonsense. That is nonsense on a stick.

“Unless your soup of the day is gin, you know that is a lie.

“Half of that tax increase would have hit working men and working women and working families in this country. The other half would have hit our small businesses. And, yes, some of our large businesses. We stopped that. We made some of those tax cuts permanent.

“We cut taxes on tips. In this bill, we cut taxes on overtime. We cut taxes on Social Security. We cut taxes on car loans. We expanded a tax credit for childcare to help moms and dads pay for the childcare so they can work. We increased the child tax credit. We increased the standard deduction—and that's going to take effect immediately. 

“We funded school choice. For years and years and years, I have tried—we all have tried, many of us have tried—to provide the American people, moms and dads, with school choice. This bill did it.

“I went to a public school. I'm proud of that, but competition makes all of us better. I can go to my overpriced Capitol Hill apartment or Capitol Hill grocery store and choose from six or seven types of mayonnaise. Why shouldn't we give parents, moms and dads, choices for their education? We're doing that with the school choice portion of this bill. 

“We increase money for the border, and we increased money for defense.

“Now, we also addressed the problem in Medicaid. And I’ve been very disappointed because some commentators have said that we're going to throw off from the Medicaid rolls, I read, anywhere from 10 to 12 million people. And the implication in some of these articles and some of these comments is that we're just going to look at the Medicaid rolls and go through and say, ‘You're gone. We can't afford you.’ And that's not what this bill does. 

“The first thing you have to realize is that actually Medicaid is not going to be cut at all under this bill. Under our bill that we just passed, our spending on Medicaid over the next 10 years is going to go up 20%. So, nobody is cutting Medicaid.

“There are some people, as a result of the new provisions that we have put into law, who will no longer be eligible for Medicaid and will no longer get Medicaid, but they weren't entitled to get it in the first place. So, when you say, ‘Well, you're throwing people off from Medicaid.’ They weren't entitled to it in the first place. 

“You're not entitled to Medicaid if you're making $200,000 a year, and you didn't tell the truth when you signed up for the Medicaid in your state, and your state didn't verify your statements.

“But let me give you one example. CMS just put out a report. . . . 2.8 million of those Americans who will lose Medicaid are double dippers. They signed up twice. We have 1.2 million people on the Medicaid rolls who are signed up in two states. And the American taxpayer is paying twice. . . . Most states use Managed Care, and they pay per Medicaid patient. So, if a state is paying—let's say, I’ll pick a number—$18,000 per Medicaid patient per year to the health care organization to provide their care, and that person is signed up in two states, they're double dipping, and it's costing the American taxpayer two $8,000 payments a year. That's cheating.

“So, from one perspective, ‘You're throwing these people off Medicaid.’ They weren't entitled to double-dip in the first place. CMS also came out with a report—by CMS, I mean the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, which is the federal agency that administers Medicare and Medicaid.

“CMS has also found that there are 1.6 million people who are on Medicaid today who are receiving both Medicaid and Obamacare.

“Well, what's Obamacare? I'll refresh everyone's memory. Medicaid is supposed to be for the poor and disabled. And Medicare is for the elderly. And a lot of other Americans have health insurance through their job. But there are certain numbers of Americans who don't have health insurance because they're not old enough for Medicare, and they're not poor enough for Medicaid, and maybe their employer doesn't offer health insurance. So, they can go to an exchange—we call them the Obamacare exchange—and buy health insurance. 

“Now, President Obama and some of my colleagues—I wasn't here then—but when we passed Obamacare, the Obamacare exchanges, the Affordable Care Act, we were told health insurance would be cheaper. And we were told it would be more accessible. It's been neither. We were also told, ‘If you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor.’ That wasn't true either. But the point is that we have a number of Americans who—if they don't qualify for Medicare, they don't qualify for Medicaid, they don't get insurance through their employer—they go to the Obamacare exchanges. 

“But CMS found we've got 1.6 million people who are getting both health insurance through the Obamacare exchanges, which we subsidized, taxpayers do, and through Medicaid. That's called double dipping. It's illegal. And CBO [Congressional Budget Office] can put out all the reports that they want to, saying, ‘Oh, you're throwing all of these people off Medicaid.’ Technically, they're right, but they're not eligible to be on Medicaid.

“I just gave you an example: 2.8 million people who are double-dipping. It's illegal to double-dip. It's immoral to double-dip. It's unfair to taxpayers to double-dip. All our bill does is say, ‘You can't double-dip.’ Cheating is wrong.

“Is that throwing people off Medicaid? Technically, yes, but once again, as the other provisions in this bill also do, we're taking people off Medicaid who weren't eligible for it in the first place. As a result of these 2.8 million people, I think CMS—I’m looking for their figure—I think it costs the American taxpayers, because of these 2.8 million folks who are double dipping, $14 billion a year over a ten-year window, which is the horizon we used. That's $140 billion that we're going to save, and that savings is going to go back into Medicaid to make it even stronger.

“That's just one example of how much of the reporting on our bill is misleading.”

 Watch Kennedy’s speech here.  

WASHINGTON – Senator John Kennedy (R-La.), a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, issued the following statement applauding the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) for entering into a 20-year lease agreement with McNeese State University in Lake Charles, La., the location of the PHMSA National Center of Excellence for Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) Safety (the Center). McNeese was chosen as the Center’s site earlier this year. The lease will start on August 1, 2025.

“LNG production is one of the most critical ways our nation can unleash our energy dominance and protect our national security, and Louisiana is leading the way. I’m proud to see the U.S. Department of Transportation take this major step forward in building our National Center of Excellence for LNG Safety in Lake Charles. This Center will be a game changer for our region and be the tip of the spear for LNG innovation, operations, and safety in the U.S.,” said Kennedy. 

“Louisiana is at the heart of America’s growing LNG revolution. There is no better place to locate our Center of Excellence to ensure we safely transport this critical energy source,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy.

The Protecting our Infrastructure of Pipelines and Enhancing Safety (PIPES) Act of 2020 required PHMSA to establish that the National Center of Excellence for LNG Safety improve the federal government’s LNG facility expertise, serve as an information repository on best practices for LNG facilities, and facilitate collaboration among LNG stakeholders. 

“We are excited to reach another important milestone in the construction of the Center, which will be a hub for advancing U.S. LNG safety,” said PHMSA Acting Administrator Ben Kochman. 

“We are thrilled to finalize the long-term lease with PHMSA for a location on our McNeese campus. This project has been in the works for over two years, and it would not have been possible without the tireless efforts of Senator Kennedy and his staff, our partners in Washington, D.C., and our colleagues at the University of Louisiana. We believe having PHMSA right here in Lake Charles—working alongside us—will serve as a powerful catalyst for securing the future of our region’s vital industries,” said Dr. Wade Rousse, President, McNeese State University.

Kennedy has long fought for the National Center of Excellence for LNG Safety and its presence in southwest Louisiana.

• In 2020, Kennedy inserted a provision into the PIPES Act requiring the Center to be located in Louisiana. The PIPES Act, including Kennedy’s addition, became law as part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021.

• In May 2024, Kennedy questioned then-Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg during the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development and Related Agencies (THUD Appropriations). In response to Kennedy’s questions, Buttigieg confirmed that the Center would be located in Lake Charles, La.

• During a May 2025 THUD Appropriations hearing, Kennedy questioned Secretary Duffy and confirmed that McNeese State University would be the site of the new Center. McNeese State University is the first undergraduate institution in the U.S. to offer a certificate program in the LNG Business and already hosts its own LNG Center of Excellence.

PHMSA and other federal agencies, including the U.S. Coast Guard, Department of Energy, and Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, have worked together to ensure the Center is focused on its mission of making the U.S. the leader in LNG operations. 

Additional information about the National Center of Excellence for LNG Safety is available on PHMSA’s website.

WASHINGTON – Senator John Kennedy (R-La.) issued the following statement after the U.S. Senate approved the Trump administration’s rescissions request to cut $9 billion in wasteful spending from the federal budget identified by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). This package, H.R. 4, the Rescissions Act, which accounts for one-tenth of one percent of the federal budget, returns to the U.S. House of Representatives for final consideration. 

“President Trump ran on a platform of reducing the size of government and cutting unnecessary, wasteful spending. Thanks to his bold leadership and the support of the DOGE team, your hard-earned taxpayer dollars will no longer be wasted on this outrageous spending porn. American taxpayers shouldn’t be footing the bill to fund woke foreign aid or activist media. Their taxpayer money should be spent on initiatives that improve their lives, put more money in their pockets, and protect our great country. I’m eager for the House to pass this bill and send it to President Trump’s desk for his signature,” said Kennedy. 

Background:

• The Trump administration’s initial rescissions package totals more than $9 billion in unnecessary spending.

• This package codifies spending cuts identified by DOGE, including $1.1 billion of cuts from the Corporation of Public Broadcasting (CPB), which provides funding to NPR and PBS, both politically biased and activist media systems, at taxpayers’ expense and $7.9 billion in radical and wasteful foreign aid spending at the Department of State, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), and the U.S. Institute of Peace (USIP), among other programs. 

Some examples of the wasteful spending porn that the Rescissions Act will cut:

• $18 million to improve gender diversity in the Mexican street lighting industry. 

• $6 million for media organizations and civic life for Palestinians.

• $3.9 million for LGBTQI+ populations in the Western Balkans.

• $3 million for Iraqi Sesame Street.

• $2.5 million to teach children how to make environmentally friendly “reproductive health” decisions.

• $2.4 million to make aid more considerate of “sexual orientation and gender identity.” 

• $1 million for voter ID in Haiti.

• $500,000 for electric buses in Rwanda.

• $500,000 for biodiversity in Peru.

Legislative Process:

• The Impoundment Control Act of 1974 requires the Executive Branch to spend the money Congress allocates each year, even though Congress allocated that money when President Biden was in office and Democrats controlled the Senate.

• Under the Impoundment Control Act, a new administration can attempt to permanently halt previously appropriated spending by submitting a rescissions request for congressional approval. 

• President Trump did just that. In his initial rescission request, made in May 2025, he asked Congress to rescind roughly $8.3 billion from wasteful foreign aid programs and $1.1 billion from public broadcasting.

• The U.S. House of Representatives approved these initial cuts on June 12, 2025. The Impoundment Control Act only gives Congress 45 days to approve a rescissions request.

The full text of H.R. 4, the Rescissions Act, is available here.