Watch Kennedy’s comments here.
WASHINGTON – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) argued that no carbon capture injection wells should be installed in Louisiana without the consent of landowners in two speeches on the U.S. Senate floor.
Key excerpts of Kennedy’s first speech on April 28 are below.
“It is called the 45Q tax credit. . . . We are paying companies a whole bunch of money to go capture this carbon and inject it in the ground. Now, I didn’t come here tonight to debate whether that is a good idea or a bad idea. A lot of that is up to the States and to Congress for another day. There are pros and cons, and some say it is a good idea. Some say it is a bad idea.
“I know certain oil and gas companies have been injecting CO2 into producing oil and gas wells for years to make the gas and oil flow better without hurting anybody. I know in other cases there have been CO2 pipelines—carbon dioxide pipelines—transmitting carbon dioxide that have ruptured and injured people.
“I don’t know who is right, and I don’t know who is wrong. I do know, though, that to inject it underground, you have got to do it on somebody’s property. And that is where the rub comes in. We take our property rights in Louisiana seriously. Your right to own property is a federal constitutional right. In Louisiana, it is also a state constitutional right. So important, we put it in our state constitution.”
. . .
“In my State, in every other state, and under the federal government, the state can come in and say: Look, Kennedy, we know you don’t want to give up your property, but it is going to cost us a lot more to put the road over here. So we are going to take your property, but we are going to pay you full price.
“And they do. They have to. It is in our constitution. They have to pay the full, fair market price. So, we are pretty comfortable with that.
“But the people in Louisiana have just discovered that the companies that I talked about who are being paid this Federal money—$85 a ton to capture carbon and inject it into the ground—can also take people’s land to put in an injection well. And I don’t like that.”
. . .
“So, if one of these companies comes to one of my people on their family land and says, ‘We will offer you this. We want to put in an injection well,’ and the owners of that land go, ‘I don’t think so. This property has been in my family for years, and I don’t know about this CO2 stuff anyway,’ they are not going to have a choice because the state can come in and take that land.
“I don’t like that, and I think our legislature needs to weigh in on this. I think we ought to go back to what our state constitution says and what the federal constitution has said even longer: People have the right to property.”
On April 29, Kennedy delivered a second speech on carbon capture. Key excerpts of that speech are below.
“If the powers that be in my state start bullying people—I’m not saying they will, but if they start bullying people and taking their property when they don’t want to give it up to inject carbon dioxide beneath their land without their permission or consent—then I’m going to have something to say about it because this money that we’re paying companies to do that, it’s a federal statute.”
. . .
“And you know what? That 45Q tax credit can be changed. I can’t make the legislature pass or not pass a law, but I sure can offer a bill to change that amount of money that we’re paying companies to do this if they’re going to force people and take their land in order to put in these wells.”
Watch Kennedy’s speeches here.
MADISONVILLE, La. – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) today announced that his office will host a passport acceptance event with the New Orleans Passport Agency to help Louisianians apply for or renew their passports.
Date: May 21, 2026
Time: 9:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. CT
Location: East Regional Library – Lafayette Public Library (215 La Neuville Road, Youngsville, La., 70592)
“As summer travel planning picks up, my staff and the New Orleans Passport Agency are working together to help constituents apply for or renew their passports. I’m honored to help put on this event in Lafayette Parish, and I hope it helps make this process as easy as possible for Louisianians,” said Kennedy.
Applicants must bring the following items with them:
- Completed passport application (downloadable here)
- Passport photo (2" by 2", taken within the last 6 months)
- Government-issued I.D.
- Proof of U.S. citizenship
- Payment via credit/debit card or Apple/Google Pay (no cash, checks or money orders accepted)
Those interested may contact Kathy Manuel at (337) 541-7990 or Christy Tate at (337) 541-7991 with questions.
Kennedy in Fox Digital: Democrats’ anti-ICE tantrum leaves Republicans with one option going forward
Apr 30 2026
WASHINGTON – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) penned this op-ed in Fox News Digital explaining how Democrats’ shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security is proof that Republicans will need to use reconciliation yet again to address any of the cost-of-living issues facing America.
Key excerpts of the op-ed are below:
“For more than 70 days, Senate Democrats claimed that they shut down the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) because they wanted to reform Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). It’s clear now that they shut down DHS out of fear of their own voters.
“The loon wing of the Democratic Party — the folks who think Dr. Seuss is racist, Mr. Potato Head is sexist and children can change their genders at recess — is the largest and loudest segment of the Democratic Party. They hate our immigration laws. They want criminal illegal aliens to roam free while ICE officers rot in jail. And they have made it clear to every Democrat in office that a vote to fund ICE would haunt them for the rest of their natural lives.”
. . .
“As the anti-ICE, pro-Karen wing has grown in prominence, Senate Democrats have developed a severe allergy to common-sense policies.
“It’s why they voted against the One Big Beautiful Bill and the thousands of dollars of tax savings for the average American. And why they melted down when Republicans voted to rescind more than $9 billion in woke foreign aid, including funding for ‘Sesame Street’ programs in Iraq, free vasectomies in Zambia and pastry-cooking classes for male prostitutes in Nepal.
“I don’t hate my Democratic colleagues for losing their minds to appease their political base. I don’t hate anybody. But the loon wing’s dominance has changed how Republicans need to operate if we are ever going to get anything done.”
. . .
“The One Big Beautiful Bill made important changes to our tax code to keep more money in people’s pockets, including no tax on tips, overtime and some Social Security benefits. But we can do a lot more to help Americans make ends meet through reconciliation.
“Senate Democrats aren’t just holding ICE hostage on behalf of the loon wing of their party. They’re stopping every effort we make to improve the lives of the American people. If we want to fulfill all the other promises we made to American families, reconciliation is our only opportunity. I hope we won’t waste it.”
Read Kennedy’s op-ed here.
Kennedy thanks law enforcement for quick response to Trump assassination attempt: “This guy never got close”
Apr 29 2026
Watch Kennedy’s comments here.
WASHINGTON – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) commended the law enforcement officers at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner for their heroic efforts to halt the attempted assassination of President Trump in a speech on the U.S. Senate floor.
Key excerpts of the speech are below:
“An overeducated, underemployed, self-righteous punk from California who thinks he is smarter and more virtuous than the American people and who thinks if you disagree with him, you are not only in error, you are in sin and deserve to die, tried to crash the function and assassinate the president and some members of his administration.”
. . .
“I want to also say a word about security. Look, we are going to hold hearings. We love to hold hearings on Capitol Hill. That is one of our favorite things to do. And there are going to be hearings held about the security provided by our Secret Service and others. I am not saying those hearings shouldn’t be held. I am not a security expert. But I want to thank the members of law enforcement who prevented what could have been a very serious tragedy Saturday night. I am pretty familiar with the Washington Hilton hotel, and the truth is, those who are also familiar with it know that this guy never got close.”
. . .
“In fact, I thought our security showed great restraint. I was frankly very surprised that this punk didn’t end up like a piece of Swiss cheese.”
Watch Kennedy’s speech here.
Kennedy introduces bill to prevent burdensome collection of small business owners’ personal data
Apr 29 2026
WASHINGTON – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.), a member of the Senate Banking Committee, introduced a bill to prevent the U.S. Treasury Department from unnecessarily collecting small business owners’ personal information.
“When an obscure government policy requires small business owners to fork over personal data that even our government admits it doesn’t need, it’s time to change that policy. That’s why I’m leading the bill to permanently end this burdensome mandate and keep law-abiding Americans’ personal information out of a database it should never have been in,” said Kennedy.
Sens. Roger Marshall (R-Kan.), Mike Lee (R-Utah), Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), Jim Justice (R-W.Va.), Tim Sheehy (R-Mont.), Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.) and Jim Banks (R-Ind.) joined Kennedy in introducing the bill.
“I've heard loud and clear from Kansas small business owners that the Corporate Transparency Act's reporting requirements are too costly and too burdensome. Since the CTA took effect, it became clear that requiring American small business owners to register sensitive personal information with a federal database was not going to work. I’m glad to join Senator Kennedy’s bill, which will save American small businesses billions of dollars. I'll push hard to get it across the finish line so that American businesses can have the certainty of knowing it won't be rearing its ugly head again,” said Marshall.
“The federal bureaucracy loves to bury small businessowners in paperwork that costs time, money, and even their private information. I have long opposed the Corporate Transparency Act’s overregulation and its Beneficial Ownership Information reporting requirement and have ardently advocated for repeal. I’m proud to cosponsor Senator Kennedy's critical legislation to end these burdensome reporting rules for American-based businesses,” said Lee.
“Texas is home to more than 3.5 million small businesses. They are the backbone of our economy, and they should not be treated like criminal suspects by Washington bureaucrats. We should be protecting their privacy and reducing regulatory burdens on American small businesses, and I’m glad to join Senator Kennedy in introducing this bill,” said Cruz.
“By imposing heavy compliance burdens, the Beneficial Ownership Information requirement in the Corporate Transparency Act distracts small business owners from essential tasks, such as innovation, customer service, and daily operations. It is essential that we repeal and remove this requirement from FinCEN,” said Blackburn.
“I’m proud to support this legislation that reins in unnecessary data collection and puts U.S. small businesses’ privacy first. For too long, hardworking Americans—including many West Virginians—have faced overly broad reporting requirements that do little to enhance security while also exposing their sensitive personal information. This bill takes a targeted, responsible approach that ensures oversight efforts are focused where they matter most, while lifting an undue burden,” said Capito.
Background:
- Under 2021’s Corporate Transparency Act, the federal government began mandating the collection of certain individuals’ Beneficial Ownership Information (BOI), including small business owners’ full legal names, dates of birth, addresses and unique identifying numbers.
- The U.S. Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) ultimately found these reporting requirements to be overly onerous and intrusive for small businesses.
- By March 2025, FinCEN issued a rule narrowing the scope of the data collection to foreign reporting companies, pausing the collection of many Americans’ data.
Kennedy’s bill would make this March 2025 rule law and require FinCEN to delete Americans’ data already collected under the 2021 requirement.
By ending this data collection, the legislation would save taxpayers an average of $9 billion per year and save U.S. small businesses $6.7 billion over 10 years.
The National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) supports Kennedy’s bill.
"NFIB thanks Senator Kennedy for his leadership to protect over 32 million small businesses from being forced to hand over more personal data to the federal government. The new federal database created by the Beneficial Ownership Information (BOI) Reporting law is a disaster waiting to happen and it's time for FinCEN to destroy the unconstitutionally collected BOI data of America’s small businesses. Senator Kennedy’s legislation would free U.S. small businesses from the threats of the invasive BOI mandate," said Brad Close, NFIB President.
Full bill text is available here.
Kennedy, McCormick, bipartisan colleagues introduce bill to extend terrorism risk insurance program
Apr 29 2026
WASHINGTON – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.), a member of the Senate Banking Committee, joined Sens. Dave McCormick (R-Pa.), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) and 18 colleagues in introducing the Terrorism Risk Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2026. The bill would extend the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act (TRIA) for seven years, ensuring businesses do not face a lapse in terrorism risk coverage.
“In the wake of the September 11th attacks, Congress created the Terrorism Risk Insurance Program to support Americans during crises. As America continues to deal with heightened terrorism threats, this program remains as relevant as ever. I’m proud to join my colleagues in introducing a bill to get ahead of the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act’s expiration date, pass an extension and prevent any lapse in coverage,” said Kennedy.
“State sponsors of terror pose a persistent threat to the United States, and we must be prepared. Reauthorizing TRIA ensures businesses and workers in Pennsylvania will be supported in the event of a terror attack,” said McCormick.
“The Terrorism Risk Insurance Program is critical to keeping insurance available and affordable to businesses in Minnesota and across the country so they can grow and create jobs. Without this bill, a potential terrorism event would mean a financial catastrophe for many businesses and would be extremely costly to taxpayers. I’ve worked to make sure this bipartisan measure stays in place since I came to the Senate, and I’m glad to be introducing my TRIA bill again to ensure this vital program doesn’t lapse,” said Smith.
“Reauthorizing the Terrorism Risk Insurance Program is essential to ensuring businesses have the certainty they need to operate and invest with confidence. This longstanding public-private partnership has helped safeguard our economy for more than two decades, and extending it will prevent disruption while ensuring we remain prepared for evolving threats,” said Tillis.
“We have to make sure we’re prepared for the worst. I’m proud to co-lead the bipartisan reauthorization of the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act. This long-term reauthorization will ensure Arizona businesses can invest in their assets and create jobs with confidence and that they have the resources they need to recover in the event of a major terrorist attack,” said Gallego.
In 2002, Congress first passed the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act (TRIA) to make sure that commercial policyholders could obtain terrorism risk coverage.
The private insurance market has relied on TRIA as a backstop since its passage, with the program only briefly lapsing in 2014. During this short lapse, terrorism coverage effectively became unavailable—a mistake Congress cannot afford to repeat in 2026’s threat landscape.
Sens. Tim Scott (R-S.C.), Jim Banks (R-Ind.), Katie Britt (R-Ala.), Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.), Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio), Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.), Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), Andy Kim (D-N.J.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), Angela Alsobrooks (D-Md.), Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Mark Warner (D-Va.), Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.) and Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.) joined Kennedy, McCormick, Smith and Tillis in introducing the bill.
The full bill text is available here.
Kennedy thanks King Charles III for speech to Congress, urges him to protect Diego Garcia military base
Apr 29 2026
Watch Kennedy’s comments here.
WASHINGTON – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) thanked King Charles III for his speech before the joint meeting of Congress and urged the United Kingdom’s political leadership to do more to protect the Chagos Islands, including the joint U.S.-U.K. military base on the island of Diego Garcia, in a speech on the U.S. Senate floor.
Key excerpts of the speech are below:
“King Charles spoke to a joint session of Congress today. I thank him so much for coming. He was eloquent. He was charming. He was funny. He talked about the special relationship between the United States and the United Kingdom. And we do have a special relationship, and I hope it can continue.”
. . .
“I don’t know what the King is going to talk to the president about. I don’t know if he is carrying messages from the political leadership in the United Kingdom. That is all above my pay grade. But if the King is carrying a message from the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom to try to convince our president to give away the Diego Garcia military base to an African country, which is the BFF of China, I hope our president will continue to resist. I hope he will respond to that request, if it is made, by saying: The short answer is no. The long answer is hell no.”
Background:
Diego Garcia, the largest of the Chagos Islands, houses a joint U.S.-U.K. military base—one of the only bases in the world where the U.S. military can reload submarines.
Despite the base’s importance, the U.K. has sided with left-wing activists by moving to cede control of the Chagos Islands to the small island nation of Mauritius.
Mauritius, located more than 1,200 miles from the Chagos Islands, has become increasingly aligned with the Chinese Communist Party. Its prime minister, Navin Ramgoolam, has signaled his intent to bolster diplomatic relations with China, once relaying that President Xi Jinping told him, “China never forgets its friends.”
Kennedy has long condemned the United Kingdom’s planned giveaway of the Chagos Islands.
- Shortly after the proposed deal’s announcement in October 2024, Kennedy released a statement lambasting the decision as “dangerous and irresponsible,” making him one of the chief American opponents of the Chagos giveaway.
- The same month, Kennedy authored an op-ed in The Hill further denouncing the move and wrote a letter to then-Secretary of State Antony Blinken seeking answers about the Biden administration’s involvement in the deal.
- On four occasions from November 2024 to February 2025, Kennedy took to the U.S. Senate floor to urge the U.S. and U.K. governments to abandon the deal.
- In January 2025, Kennedy hosted two leading British critics of the Chagos giveaway, Baron Dean Godson and Julia Mizen of the U.K.-based think tank Policy Exchange, at his office.
- Later that month, Kennedy penned an op-ed in The Telegraph, arguing in part that “[t]he idea that the U.K. must hand over the islands to atone for whatever perceived wrongs Britain’s forefathers may have committed is nonsense.”
- In April 2025, Kennedy participated in a Wall Street Journal documentary about the Chagos Islands deal, calling it “stone-cold stupid.”
- In January 2026, Kennedy published another op-ed in The Telegraph, once again urging the U.K. to work with the Trump administration to protect Diego Garcia. He followed this op-ed with a February speech on the Senate floor elaborating on his argument.
- In February 2026, Kennedy led a letter to the Trump administration encouraging Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of War Pete Hegseth to oppose the deal.
- In March 2026, Kennedy introduced the Diego Garcia Treaty Oversight Act, which would require the advice and consent of the U.S. Senate for any changes to the 1966 treaty between the U.S. and U.K. concerning the British Indian Ocean Territory.
Watch Kennedy’s speech here.
MADISONVILLE, La. – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.), a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, today announced that Louisiana will receive $32,168,041 in federal funding from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for protective measures and management costs.
“When severe weather hits Louisiana, it’s hard to overstate how important reliable power is for our people. This $32.2 million will help provide Cameron Parish and our public safety officials with electricity they can count on during harsh conditions,” said Kennedy.
The FEMA aid will fund the following:
- $29,847,596 to Cameron Parish for Phase II construction of an electrical substation and transmission lines for storm protection.
- $1,246,022 to Cameron Parish for management costs associated with construction.
- $1,022,976 to the Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections (Louisiana DPS) for the purchase and installation of two permanent generators at its Baton Rouge, La., headquarters.
- $51,149 to Louisiana DPS for management costs associated with the generator purchase and installation.
WASHINGTON – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.), a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, today announced that Louisiana will receive $29,872,642 in federal funding from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for disaster recovery efforts and repairs in Louisiana communities impacted by Hurricanes Laura and Ida.
“Louisianians remember all too well the devastation left by hurricanes like Laura and Ida in their communities—and they have worked tirelessly to rebuild and strengthen flood mitigation efforts. This $29.9 million will support Lafourche and Terrebonne Parishes, the city of Lake Charles and other areas of our state recover from the costly damage these severe storms caused,” said Kennedy.
The FEMA aid will fund the following:
- $10,139,852 to the Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux to repair multiple buildings, including modular and portable classrooms and the athletic field damaged by Hurricane Ida.
- $8,739,020 for the Lafourche Parish School Board to restore the South Lafourche High School multi-purpose building and annex building back to pre-disaster design, function and capacity after Hurricane Ida damage.
- $5,008,111 to Terrebonne Parish to repair public buildings and infrastructure that Hurricane Ida damaged.
- $2,451,378 to the Louisiana Department of Health for management costs resulting from Hurricane Ida.
- $1,853,281 for the Society of the Roman Catholic Church of the Diocese of Lake Charles for management costs as a result of Hurricane Laura.
- $1,680,999 to the Greater St. Mary Missionary Baptist Church in Lake Charles, La., for permanent repairs in the main sanctuary, multiple classrooms and bathrooms from Hurricane Laura’s strong winds, heavy rains and flooding.
Watch Kennedy’s comments here.
WASHINGTON – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) last night defended commonsense election integrity policies and forced a vote on inserting key parts of the SAVE Act into a Senate Republican plan to re-open the Department of Homeland Security. The final vote was 48-50. It was a close vote but a heartbreaking loss.
Kennedy’s amendment would direct the Senate Rules Committee to include in the reconciliation bill:
- A photo identification (ID) requirement to register American citizens to vote in American elections.
- A requirement to display a photo ID before voting in American elections.
- A policy ordering that all votes in federal elections be counted within 36 hours of election day.
While Kennedy’s proposal won widespread support among Senate Republicans, it did not receive the votes required to amend the reconciliation package blueprint.
Key excerpts of Kennedy’s remarks are below.
“One of the things I . . . said I wanted to try to do in reconciliation was the SAVE Act. Here’s what I want to do, and I’m willing for all of us to put our heads together and figure out how to do it.
“The American people no longer have confidence in our elections. You can debate whether that’s justified or not, but it’s just a natural fact. I think that we can restore confidence in our federal elections if we do three things.
“If we come up with a way to make sure everybody who is registered to vote is an American citizen, I think we can restore confidence in our elections, [and] if, number two, we passed a rule for federal elections that says ‘You have to prove you are who you say you are in order to vote.’ And, number three, I would like to see us—I consider this part of the SAVE America Act, but it’s not traditionally part—I think we ought to go back to having an election day and not an election month.
“I know some votes come in late. I get that. We’re smart enough to figure out a way to accommodate that—but this election month stuff is just undermining the people’s confidence, both Democrats [and] Republicans, and independents.
“That’s what I mean when I say the SAVE Act. And I said, ‘I’m going to try to put the SAVE Act on the reconciliation bill,’ and I’m going to keep my word. Where I come from, your word is your bond.”
Kennedy is a longtime supporter and cosponsor of both the SAVE Act and SAVE America Act.
In March 2026, Kennedy delivered a speech on the U.S. Senate floor explaining his endorsement of the SAVE America Act and his reconciliation strategy.
“If this bill is as important as we say it is, we should try it through reconciliation,” said Kennedy.
Watch Kennedy’s effort to pass key SAVE Act priorities via the reconciliation process here.
