WASHINGTON – The U.S. Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee (HSGAC) today unanimously voted to advance Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) and Sen. Gary Peters’ (D-Mich.) Ending Improper Payments to Deceased People Act, which would save hard-earned taxpayer money by curbing erroneous payments to individuals who have passed away.

Kennedy’s original bipartisan legislation set up key provisions to save federal taxpayer dollars by curbing erroneous government payments to individuals for a temporary three-year period, and this new Kennedy-Peters bill would make the temporary provisions permanent. The original bill is expected to save at least $330 million from 2024 to 2026.

“Today’s unanimous Senate Homeland Security Committee vote to pass my Ending Improper Payments to Deceased People Act is a major win for every American worried about waste, fraud, and abuse in our federal budget. There’s no reason hardworking Americans should have to pay for the government’s mistaken payments to dead people. I look forward to the full Senate passing our bill right away,” said Kennedy.

“This bill would help save millions of taxpayer dollars by ensuring that the Social Security Administration can permanently share important data with the Treasury’s Do Not Pay system, preventing wrongful payments to deceased individuals. I have long supported this legislation because I believe it is a vital step in safeguarding taxpayer dollars and ensuring the integrity of our payment systems,” said Peters.

In January 2025, the Treasury Department announced that it recovered $31 million in fraud and improper payments during the first five months of the implementation of Kennedy’s Stopping Improper Payments to Deceased People Act, in which the Social Security Administration shared its Death Master File with the Treasury Department to avoid erroneous payments temporarily.

The Ending Improper Payments to Deceased People Act would permanently amend the Social Security Act to allow the Social Security Administration to share the Death Master File – a record of deceased individuals – with the Treasury Department’s Do Not Pay system. This change would rein in the government’s ability to make improper payments to deceased people in the future.

The bill would also allow the Treasury’s Do Not Pay working system to compare death information from the Social Security Administration with personal information from other federal entities and to share this information with any paying or administering agency that is authorized to use the Do Not Pay system. 

Background: 

Kennedy has championed the cause of saving billions of dollars in taxpayer money by ending improper payments to deceased Americans in recent years:

• In December 2024, Kennedy urged his colleagues to save taxpayer dollars and support the Ending Improper Payments to Deceased Americans Act on the Senate floor.

• In May 2024, the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs unanimously passed Kennedy’s Ending Improper Payments to Deceased People Act. 

• Kennedy’s Stopping Improper Payments to Deceased People Act became law in December 2020. The bill mandates the sharing of the Social Security Administration’s Death Master File with the Department of the Treasury’s Do Not Pay working system within three years after enactment. The three-year exchange runs from December 27, 2023, to December 27, 2026.

• In 2021, Kennedy wrote this op-ed sounding the alarm on the government’s sending more than $1 billion to deceased Americans.

• In 2019, Kennedy questioned U.S. Government Accountability Office Comptroller General Hon. Gene L. Dodaro about improper payments sent to deceased people. 

Full bill text is available here.

WASHINGTON – Senator John Kennedy (R-La.), a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, today introduced a resolution urging North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) member countries to fulfill their commitments to spend five percent of their GDP on defense. He emphasizes the importance of sincerity in fulfilling these obligations, noting that some countries, such as Spain, have refused to meet the five percent commitment, demanding a carveout. Spain struggled to even meet their two percent defense spending target. All NATO members must take this commitment seriously to strengthen our collective security. 

“NATO is one of the greatest defensive alliances in all of human history. My resolution commends our allies for their commitment to allocate five percent of their GDP to our shared defense and strongly encourages them to fulfill their promises in good faith. If we want to deter our adversaries, we need real investments in our defense, not bridges that have little, if anything, to do with national security,” said Kennedy.

Sens. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.), Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), John Cornyn (R-Texas), Ted Budd (R-N.C.) and Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.) cosponsored the resolution.

“Now more than ever, the New Axis of Evil is threatening the security of free nations, and every NATO member country needs to spend their fair share to keep our adversaries from accomplishing their goals. Our resolution urges all NATO members to fulfill their obligation to spend 5% of GDP on defense and address the security risks we are facing,” said Blackburn.

“It’s past time for NATO members to pony up. It’s not the job of the American taxpayers to pay to defend the entire world. Thank God for President Trump who is finally standing up for American taxpayers and fighting to put America First,” said Tuberville.

“NATO members agree: Deterrence is more important now than at any time in recent memory. The axis of aggressors is watching, hoping the West underestimates its threats. I am grateful for the Hague Summit Declaration’s spending commitment, and I will continue pressing member nations to follow through on their word. The free world can achieve peace through collective strength,” said Wicker.

“Conflicts in Europe and the Middle East and tensions in the Indo-Pacific threaten our global stability and security. It’s critical for NATO nations to honor their commitments on national defense, ensuring military readiness within the NATO alliance,” said Cornyn.

Kennedy also penned an op-ed in Newsweek, arguing that Congress needs to hold NATO member countries to their five percent defense spending commitments.

Background:

• The Trump Administration secured a historic win by encouraging NATO member countries to move toward spending 5 percent of their GDP on collective defense. 

• However, the Hague Summit Declaration allows countries to evade their commitments in two ways: (1) by not specifying that all allies must meet the five percent requirement, and (2) by permitting 1.5 percent of the total to include spending that is only loosely related to defense.  

• Spain has recently said that it will not be meeting the five-percent commitment. Italy has said it may include a bridge to Sicily as part of its non-traditional defense total.

The resolution:

• Congratulates President Trump and NATO leadership on this historic agreement.

• Strongly urges NATO leadership to compel its members to adhere to the five percent commitment.

• Calls on NATO allies to ensure their non-traditional defense expenditures are legitimate defense spending.

The full text of the resolution is available here.

Watch Kennedy’s comments from this morning’s Senate Banking Committee hearing here.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Senate Banking Committee today voted unanimously to advance Sen. John Kennedy’s Build Now Act, which would incentivize new home construction by tying federal funds to cities’ rates of home construction.

During the Banking Committee’s first bipartisan markup of housing legislation in more than a decade, committee members approved Kennedy’s legislation as part of the ROAD to Housing Act of 2025. The package, which includes several other changes to housing policy, is now pending before the full U.S. Senate and will require the U.S. House of Representatives’ approval before reaching the president’s desk.

“Today’s unanimous Senate Banking Committee vote to pass my Build Now Act is a win for every young family in America looking to buy a home. I’m looking forward to the steps ahead for this much-needed reform, and am grateful to my Banking Committee colleagues for their support as we take on the red tape getting in the way of new home construction,” said Kennedy.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Ranking Member of the Senate Banking Committee, joined Kennedy in introducing the Build Now Act. 

“Americans are suffering under sky-high housing prices caused by a worsening housing shortage. The Federal government should use the tools at our disposal to reward communities that are taking bold action to build more housing and reduce families’ biggest monthly expense. It’s time for Congress to act—and this bipartisan proposal is a call to action to communities across the country to build housing now,” said Warren.

“Senator Kennedy, you and Ranking Member Warren took a novel idea to reward communities for the good work they have done to increase housing supply and turned it into legislation. Thank you both for working on an innovative approach called the Build Now Act,” said Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.), Chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, during this morning’s committee markup of the ROAD to Housing Act.

Currently, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)’s Community Development Block Grant Program (CDBG) provides annual grants to states, cities and counties irrespective of their rate of homebuilding.

The Build Now Act would:

• Require HUD to remove 10% of CDBG funding from cities that fail to improve their rate of homebuilding above the national median rate.

• Direct HUD to proportionally reallocate those CDBG funds to cities that exceeded the national median rate of homebuilding. Under the Build Now Act, cities with the highest rates of growth would receive larger shares as funds are reallocated.

• Allow metropolitan areas two years to start building homes before HUD determines their level of CDBG funding.

The bill would not apply to cities where the median home value is below the national median or cities that issued an emergency disaster declaration in the last year.

The Niskanen Center, the National Association of Home Builders and the Mortgage Bankers Association, in addition to Harvard University Professor of Economics Edward Glaeser, support the Build Now Act.

“The Build Now Act challenges the status quo in a smart and timely way—tying federal block grants to housing growth gives local governments both the tools and the incentive to reform. It’s bold in concept yet careful in execution, targeting only the most expensive, over-regulated cities while leaving high-performing communities untouched. We commend Senator Kennedy’s leadership and vision in advancing this much-needed legislation,” said Alex Armlovich, Senior Housing Policy Analyst at the Niskanen Center. 

“NAHB commends Sens. John Kennedy (R-La.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) for introducing bipartisan legislation that will promote construction of sorely needed housing in metropolitan areas across the nation. Increasing the housing supply is key to combating America’s housing affordability crisis and the federal incentives established by the Build Now Act of 2025 will help to reduce regulatory barriers that are stifling new construction and expand the production of affordable, attainable housing,” said Buddy Hughes, Chairman of the National Association of Home Builders.

“This bill is exciting legislation that should nudge cities and towns to permit the housing America needs to become affordable again,” said Edward Glaeser, Fred and Eleanor Glimp Professor of Economics at Harvard University. Glaeser is also a nonresident senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and a former senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute.

In his role on the Senate Banking Committee, Kennedy has championed the cause of making homeownership easier for families, raising the issue frequently during recent hearings: 

• In Jan. 2025, Kennedy questioned then-HUD Secretary nominee Scott Turner about the failures of previous affordable housing policies. During this hearing, he suggested an approach that would incentivize localities to allow more new home construction without affording excessive power to the federal government. 

• At a hearing one week later, Kennedy outlined a potential “carrot-and-stick” system that would spur new home construction while allowing local governments to determine their exact means of doing so. 

• In Feb. 2025, Kennedy questioned then-Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency nominee Bill Pulte on the consequences of Americans borrowing large amounts of money to buy homes, noting that “we’ve got a house of cards here.”

• At today’s Banking Committee markup of the ROAD to Housing Act, Kennedy discussed his proposal, stating, “Senator Warren and I have a provision in this bill that would, I think, help generate housing in America. The most stunning statistic to me is the fact that the median age of a . . . first-time homeowner in America today is 38. Wow. That’s almost 40 [years old] before you can afford a home. . . . We’ve got a problem.”

Full text of Kennedy’s Build Now Act is available here.

Full text of the ROAD to Housing Act of 2025, of which Kennedy’s Build Now Act is a part, is available here.

Watch Kennedy’s comments here.

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

“I just want to briefly thank Jimmy Graham. Who's Jimmy Graham? I know, Mr. President, you know who Jimmy Graham is. He was one of the best tight ends who ever played the game. 

“Now, he was a New Orleans Saint, I think, for six or seven seasons. He played elsewhere. I looked it up. He played for the Seahawks. He played for the Packers. He played for the Bears, but he was a total beast in the best sense of the word, playing for the New Orleans Saints. And he has retired. 

“After 13 years in the NFL, Jimmy has decided to retire. He was a big boy—he is a big boy—but he started out as a basketball player. He didn't play football. He played basketball. And he transformed himself. 

“The numbers that Jimmy put up are just out of this world. They're other worldly. He is clearly one of the most prolific pass-catching tight ends in the history of the game.

“As you know, Mr. President, many tight ends just block. That's their job. Jimmy not only blocked, but he caught passes. And he caught a bunch of them. He is number seven in NFL history in receptions at 719. He ranks number eight in receiving yards at 8,545. He ranks fourth in touchdowns at 89.

“When he was with the Saints . . . in six seasons, Jimmy Graham caught 392 passes for 4,791 yards and 55 touchdowns. And he was a tight end. His first job was to block. He also caught a few balls. And he gave my people in Louisiana a lot of joy at a time they really needed it.

“And I just wanted to thank Mr. Graham for the joy that he brought to anybody and everybody who watched him play football, but especially when he played for the New Orleans Saints. I want to wish him well, and I wanted to end on some good news tonight.”

Watch Kennedy’s speech here.