Kennedy, Grassley, Johnson seek DOJ, FBI records on Biden admin’s effort to spy on Congressional Republicans
Oct 10 2025
WASHINGTON – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, joined a letter led by Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations Chairman Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) to the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) seeking all records related to the Biden administration’s efforts to obtain the cell phone records of several Republican Members of Congress (MOC) in its Arctic Frost investigation.
“The Biden administration’s blatant weaponization of the federal government should shock every American. . . . We request that the DOJ and FBI immediately produce all records in unredacted form referring or relating to the collection of the MOC’s call logs as it relates to the Arctic Frost investigation,” the lawmakers wrote.
“We expect both DOJ and FBI to take the necessary steps to provide complete transparency to Congress so that the Biden administration’s targeting of sitting elected officials is thoroughly investigated and all wrongdoers are held fully accountable,” they later added.
Sens. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Katie Britt (R-Ala.), John Cornyn (R-Texas), Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.), Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), Mike Lee (R-Utah), Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), Ashley Moody (R-Fla.), Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.), Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), and Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) also joined the letter, as did Rep. Mike Kelly (R-Pa.).
Read the lawmakers’ full letter here.
Read more about the letter in the New York Post.WASHINGTON – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) applauded the U.S. Senate’s vote to approve the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year (FY) 2026, which includes three major Kennedy-led initiatives and other Louisiana priorities.
“This critical defense authorization bill helps ensure America’s military stays the best in the world at full strength—not second to anybody—and it delivers major wins for Louisianians. I’m especially proud that it also advances three of my top priorities in the Senate: ending the foolish practice of paying dead people, helping young families finally afford their first homes and forcing foreign insiders to play by the same set of rules as American investors,” said Kennedy.
The Senate-passed FY26 NDAA includes:
- The Ending Improper Payments to Deceased People Act, led by Kennedy and Sens. Gary Peters (D-Mich.) and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.).
- The Build Now Act, led by Kennedy and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.).
- The Holding Foreign Insiders Accountable Act, led by Kennedy and Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.).
Ending Improper Payments to Deceased People Act
The federal government sent $1.3 billion to dead people in 2023 alone. To address this problem, Kennedy first passed the Stopping Improper Payments to Deceased People Act in 2020 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 temporarily. This bipartisan law helped recover $31 million in improper payments in just its first five months as law.
Kennedy, Peters and Wyden’s Ending Improper Payments to Deceased People Act would stop fraud and save taxpayer money by making Kennedy’s original bipartisan law permanent.
It would also allow the Treasury Department’s Do Not Pay system to compare death information from the Social Security Administration with personal information from other federal entities and share it with any paying or administering agency that is authorized to use the Do Not Pay system.
The U.S. Senate also voted to pass the Ending Improper Payments to Deceased People Act as a standalone bill in September 2025.
Build Now Act
Unaffordable home prices have driven the median age of a first-time homebuyer to a record 38 years old. To address this problem, Kennedy and Warren’s Build Now Act would change homebuilding incentives within the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)’s Community Development Block Grant Program (CDBG).
The legislation would:
- Require HUD to remove 10% of CDBG funding from cities that fail to improve their rate of homebuilding above the national median.
- Order 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.
Kennedy wrote this op-ed in The Hill about the Build Now Act.
Holding Foreign Insiders Accountable Act
Foreign investors are not held to the same insider-trading reporting standards as American investors under current law—a disparity that has allowed foreign insiders to dodge $10 billion in losses while American investors are left holding the bag.
Kennedy and Van Hollen’s Holding Foreign Insiders Accountable Act would require executives of public companies based outside the United States to make electronic disclosures of trades in their company’s stocks to the Securities and Exchange (SEC) within two business days. The SEC would then make that information public, as it currently does with U.S.-based firms.
Kennedy and Van Hollen authored this op-ed in The Wall Street Journal outlining their bill in April 2023. In March 2025, Kennedy penned an additional op-ed on the subject in The Hill.
Louisiana priorities
The NDAA also contains several provisions to improve Barksdale Air Force Base in Bossier Parish, La., and bring defense manufacturing to Louisiana. The bill includes:
- Guardrails around any changes to the composition of Air Force Global Strike Command housed at Barksdale Air Force Base.
- Funding for the design of upgrades to the Child Development Center at Barksdale Air Force Base.
- Funding for dormitories at the weapons generation facility at Barksdale Air Force Base.
- The purchase of Ship-to-Shore Connectors made in Slidell, La.; 40-foot patrol boats made in Jeanerette, La.; and Yard, Repair, Berthing and Messing (YRBM) vessels made in Morgan City, La.
Full text of the Senate-passed FY26 NDAA is available here.
Kennedy, Senate Republican colleagues introduce resolution on second anniversary of Hamas’ Oct. 7 attacks
Oct 09 2025
WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) joined a bipartisan resolution led by Sens. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) and John Fetterman (D-Pa.) condemning Hamas for killing dozens of Americans and taking many others hostage on the second anniversary of the October 7, 2023, terrorist attacks on Israel.
The resolution condemns Iran-backed Hamas’ use of rape as a weapon of war, denounces the rise in antisemitic protests around the world, reaffirms America’s commitment to Israel’s right to exist and defend itself, and calls for the release of all hostages still held by Hamas, including American citizens Omer Neutra and Itay Chen.
“Two years ago, the world watched in horror as Hamas terrorists murdered innocent men, women and children in cold blood. Israel has every right to defend itself against barbaric attacks, and America must stand shoulder-to-shoulder with our strongest ally in the Middle East. We can’t let the world forget what happened on October 7 and the Americans Hamas took hostage and killed,” said Kennedy.
All Senate Republicans also cosponsored this resolution.
Full text of the resolution is available here.
WASHINGTON – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) introduced the AGOA Extension and Bilateral Engagement Act, also known as AGOA 2.0. The bill would extend the African Growth and opportunity Act (AGOA) while ensuring the program supports U.S. interests and counters China’s growing influence in Africa.
“China is using Africa to expand its influence at America’s expense. We need to rethink our relationships in the region while strengthening trade with African countries that share our values. This bill makes sure AGOA works for America’s interests—not against them,” said Kennedy.
Kennedy’s bill would renew AGOA for two years and ensure participating countries support U.S. interests, rather than adversaries like Beijing and Moscow. The legislation also incorporates Kennedy’s U.S.-South Africa Bilateral Relations Review Act to hold South Africa accountable for siding with America’s rivals.
The AGOA 2.0 Act would:
- Extend AGOA for two years.
- Require a U.S. strategy to negotiate bilateral trade agreements with select AGOA countries.
- Emphasize clear eligibility criteria for participating nations, including democratic governance, rule of law, human rights, combating corruption and open markets.
- Incorporate Kennedy’s U.S.-South Africa Bilateral Relations Review Act to hold South Africa accountable for aligning with Beijing, Moscow and other adversaries.
- Ensure AGOA is used to strengthen U.S. partnerships in Africa while combating Chinese influence in the region.
Background:
Congress first enacted AGOA in 2000 to expand U.S.-Africa trade ties. The program gave eligible sub-Saharan African nations duty-free access to thousands of products in the U.S. market in exchange for developing market-based economies, democracy, and the rule of law. AGOA’s trade benefits expired on Sept. 30, 2025. In total, 32 countries were eligible for AGOA benefits at the time of expiration.
Full text of the AGOA Extension and Bilateral Engagement Act is available here.
Kennedy on Democrats’ government shutdown: “I don’t think Sen. Schumer is the person in charge”
Oct 03 2025
Watch Kennedy’s comments here.
WASHINGTON – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) delivered the following remarks on the U.S. Senate floor:
“Well, the shutdown melodrama continues. I love the smell of melodrama in the morning. Smells like the United States Senate. I said the other day that this shutdown is just further proof that human evolution is a slow, slow process. This shutdown—what you’re witnessing now—is just further proof of why it took human beings thousands of years to learn how to stand upright.”
. . .
“I believe in a two-party system, Mr. President. Why? Because two parties create competition, and competition makes all of us better. . . . The Democratic Party is competing within itself right now, and there is a distinct wing of the Democratic Party that is winning that competition. If I wanted to use a pejorative expression, I would call it the loon wing of the party . . . I think a more accurate description is to call it the socialist wing of the Democratic Party. . . . That [wing of the] party is in control.”
. . .
“Now, my friend, Sen. Schumer, is the leader of the Democrats in the United States Senate, and he, of course, has instructed his colleagues to vote to shut down government, and Sen. Schumer has been criticized for that. . . . But I don’t think Sen. Schumer is the person in charge, because Sen. Schumer is not the leader of the socialist wing of his party. Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez is. She’s running the show. It was no accident the other day; the congresswoman let it slip. She said, ‘If you really want to negotiate an end to this shutdown, come see me.’”
. . .
“[T]he first thing that the socialists and Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez [are] asking us to do is to repeal the health care reforms in the One Big Beautiful Bill. We just passed them. . . . Now, we didn’t cut Medicaid in the One Big Beautiful Bill. In fact, under our bill, Medicaid is going to increase 2% a year for the next ten years. Now, what we did by reforming Medicaid, which Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez wants us to reverse, [is] cut out the waste and fraud.”
. . .
“What else do they want us to do? Well, they’re upset at us over the Affordable Care Act. . . . [B]ecause President Biden raised the [income] cap, we’ve got . . . families making $200,000 a year getting subsidies from the American taxpayer. Why? Because they said we needed it in the pandemic. The pandemic is over, and that’s why the Democrats, when they passed the bill, put in a provision that says, at the end of this year, those extra subsidies are going to end. Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez says, ‘No. Until you agree . . . to let anybody at income level get subsidies, we’re going to shut government down.’”
. . .
“Now, those are the demands. I’ll mention one more. Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez got very upset, as did the socialist wing of her party, when the president sent over what’s called a rescission package. Basically, President Trump just said, 'We want you to take some stuff out of the budget that we think is wasteful.' And we did, and that upset the congresswoman.”
. . .
“[N]ow, that wing of her party and the congresswoman are threatening all other Democrats and saying, ‘You’ve got to shut government down until we get what we want.’”
. . .
“Now, let me say it again, Mr. President: I don’t hate anybody. This is America. I sure don’t hate the congresswoman. She is entitled to her opinion, but I’m entitled to mine, and she can criticize my policy positions, but I’m entitled to criticize hers. And I’m here to tell you, Mr. President, in front of God and country, based on her policy positions that she is demanding, . . . the American people are looking at the congresswoman and saying, with respect, ‘She must be bilingual; she must speak English and stupid.’”
Watch Kennedy’s speech here.
Watch Kennedy’s comments here.
WASHINGTON – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) delivered the following remarks on the U.S. Senate floor:
“It looks like we’re going to have a shutdown. What does that tell us? I’ll tell you what it tells me: It’s simply that much more evidence that human evolution is a slow, slow process. I thought humans had advanced more as a species, but apparently, we haven’t.”
. . .
“We can’t keep government open just with Republican votes here in the Senate. We only have 53 Republicans. We need seven Democrats to join with us. So, for my Democratic colleagues to say, ‘Well, the Republicans are in charge, and they don't need us.’ They know that’s not accurate.”
. . .
“What we have proposed to our Democratic colleagues and the Minority Leader, Sen. Schumer, is to make no changes to the current budget. We just want to continue the current budget and keep the government open until just before Thanksgiving to give us more time to negotiate a permanent budget. We did that many times when President Biden was president, and when the Democrats had the majority. In fact, we did it 13 times. . . . But this time the Democrats have said no, no, no, no, no. We want more.
“You may be thinking, ‘Okay, that's reasonable. What do you want?’ Well, it’s not reasonable. And in fact, what the Democrats are saying to us is that. ‘We’re going to close the government unless you Republicans agree to make it bigger. We don't want the status quo. We want you to commit to spending $1.5 trillion more than you’re spending now.’ . . . Their demands to keep government open, you could stack them here, and you could stand on them and paint the ceiling. And that’s not much of an exaggeration. When Sen. Schumer announced these demands, that’s when I knew. I knew it in a nanosecond. We’re going to have a shutdown.”
. . .
“The loon wing is mad at many of my Democratic colleagues in the Senate. They shouldn't be, but they are. And, therefore, many of my Democratic colleagues in the Senate are scared of the loon wing, and they want the loon wing to love them. The loon wing will never love them. They're better off doing the right thing, and they know what the right thing to do is.”
. . .
“So, if you want a shutdown, I say to my Democratic friends, you better be prepared to deal with the mud. How are you going to get it back open? How are you going to get it back open? I wouldn't want to be in their shoes to have to make that decision.”
Watch Kennedy’s speech here.
Kennedy introduces resolution urging use of frozen Russian assets to fund Ukraine’s defense
Sep 30 2025
WASHINGTON – Sens. John Kennedy (R-La.), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) today introduced a resolution urging all countries and international organizations holding frozen Russian assets to partner with the United States to seize and repurpose these funds for Ukraine’s defense.
“Let me be clear: President Putin will keep committing crimes against humanity until fighting his war in Ukraine becomes more costly than stopping. This resolution tells our allies and international organizations holding frozen Russian funds to join us—seize those assets, repurpose them for Ukraine’s defenses and make the calculus of aggression intolerable. Hit Putin in his wallet, and you change his behavior,” said Kennedy.
“I applaud Senator Kennedy and my colleagues for working on this proposal to increase the cost to Putin for continuing the war with Ukraine. The best way to get Putin to the peace table is to hit his wallet, upping the cost of the war to him and his cronies. The $300 billion in frozen Russian assets should be used to help Ukraine deal with Putin’s invasion, at no cost to the American taxpayer. I would urge other allies to partner with the United States in this effort,” said Graham.
“Demanding that seized Russian assets be used to bolster Ukraine’s brave fight is the critically important message of our bipartisan resolution. Hundreds of billions of dollars in frozen Russian accounts can be used by Ukraine for drones, missile defenses, long range artillery, and other arms necessary to defeat Russia’s murderous slaughter. We’re sending a message to Putin that we’ll stand with Ukraine—and seek peace through strength,”said Blumenthal.
“Vladimir Putin and his corrupt oligarchs must pay for their murderous invasion of a peaceful neighbor, and repurposing their frozen assets for Ukraine’s defense and reconstruction is a major leverage point. The Trump administration and our G7 allies should immediately begin seizing these frozen Russian assets and disbursing them to Ukraine on a regular schedule to ramp up economic pressure on Putin’s floundering regime,” said Whitehouse.
During its invasion of Ukraine, Russia has committed widespread crimes against humanity, including the targeting of civilians and ambulances with drones, sexual violence against civilians and prisoners of war, extrajudicial killings and the kidnapping of Ukrainian children for re-education and militarization.
In the wake of these mounting atrocities, Kennedy delivered a speech on the Senate floor this month that renewed attention to the $300 billion in unused, internationally frozen Russian assets, and outlined the framework of his resolution.
Kennedy’s resolution:
- Determines that Russia is fully financially responsible for the harm it caused in Ukraine.
- Recommends that the Executive Branch conclude that Russia’s actions violate international law and that seizing the frozen Russian assets is a legitimate means of supporting Ukraine’s defense.
- Urges all countries holding frozen Russian assets to partner with the U.S. to seize these funds and provide them to Ukraine in monthly tranches of no less than $10 billion until no assets remain.
- Calls on the President of the United States, the U.S. Secretary of State and the U.S. Secretary of War to prioritize foreign military sales to countries that seize and repurpose these assets and deprioritize sales to countries that do not.
Full text of Kennedy’s resolution is available here.
MADISONVILLE, La. – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.), a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, today announced $34,568,132 in Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) grants to support Louisiana’s recovery from Hurricanes Laura, Ida and Francine.
“Louisiana communities have dealt with hurricanes destroying everything from power systems to public works and levees. This $34.6 million will help Lake Charles with the cost of recovering from Hurricane Laura, strengthen Grand Isle’s shoreline protection and aid with the costs of electrical repairs and emergency management costs in our state. These investments will make Louisiana stronger and more resilient for the future,” said Kennedy.
The FEMA aid will fund the following:
- $13,904,737 to the city of Lake Charles for permanent repairs and relocation of damaged Public Works Administration facilities due to Hurricane Laura damage.
- $15,047,043 to the Louisiana Governor’s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness for state management costs resulting from Hurricane Ida.
- $4,540,119 to the Grand Isle Independent Levee District for repairs to the Fi Fi Island Breakwater system damaged by Hurricane Ida.
- $1,076,233 to the Washington-St. Tammany Electric Cooperative for repairs to its electrical distribution system due to Hurricane Francine damage.
U.S. Senate passes Kennedy, Peters, Wyden bill to end government payments to deceased Americans
Sep 24 2025
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Senate unanimously passed Sens. John Kennedy (R-La.), Gary Peters (D-Mich.) and Ron Wyden’s (D-Ore.)’s 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 law established key provisions to curb erroneous government payments to deceased individuals for a three-year period, a reform expected to save at least $330 million from 2024 to 2026. The new Kennedy-Peters-Wyden bill would make this temporary halt on such payments permanent.
“It is unconscionable that hardworking Americans are forced to foot the bill for the government’s wasteful payments to dead people. I applaud the U.S. Senate for taking bold action by passing my crucial bill to eliminate waste, fraud and abuse from our federal budget. Now, the U.S. House of Representatives ought to step up and pass this vital reform without delay,” said Kennedy.
“This bill will 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.
“This bipartisan bill fixes our federal government’s payment systems so that millions of taxpayer dollars are saved every year. As Ranking Member of the Senate Finance Committee, I am committed to ensuring that Americans’ hard earned benefits are protected. That’s why I’m supporting this bill to ensure Americans’ personal data and earned benefits from Social Security are protected,” said Wyden.
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 U.S. Social Security Administration shared its Death Master File with the Treasury Department to temporarily avoid erroneous payments.
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.
This 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.
Sens. Ashley Moody (R-Fla.), Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.) and Mark Warner (D-Va.) also cosponsored the bill.
“Government by and for the people should run as efficiently as possible, and we owe it to the people to cut waste. I’m proud to cosponsor the Ending Improper Payments to Deceased People Act, which has now passed out of the Senate, that permanently codifies coordination between the Department of Treasury and Social Security Administration to eliminate payments to dead people,” said Moody.
“I’m glad to see this important legislation to save taxpayer money pass through the Senate. This is the kind of strategic approach we should be taking to improve government efficiency — a measured and bipartisan legislative fix to ensure federal funds are being appropriately spent. I hope this targeted fix is soon signed into law,” said Warner.
Background:
Kennedy has long championed the cause of saving billions of dollars in taxpayer money by ending improper payments to deceased Americans:
- In July 2025, the U.S. Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee unanimously advanced Kennedy’s Ending Improper Payments to Deceased People Act, sending it to the Senate floor.
- In December 2024, Kennedy urged his colleagues to save hardworking taxpayer dollars by supporting the Ending Improper Payments to Deceased Americans Act on the U.S. Senate floor.
- In May 2024, the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee unanimously passed Kennedy’s Ending Improper Payments to Deceased People’s Act.
- Kennedy’s Stopping Improper Payments to Deceased People Act became law in December 2020. This bill mandated 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 period runs from December 27, 2023, to December 27, 2025.
- 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 Americans.
Full bill text is available here.
WASHINGTON – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) penned this op-ed in The Times-Picayune and The Advocate arguing that the One Big Beautiful Bill will protect Medicaid benefits for Americans in need.
Key excerpts of the op-ed are below:
“Some people in Washington enjoy scaring Americans to score political points. The current debate on Medicaid is a prime example.
“Since President Donald Trump signed the 2025 reconciliation bill, which some call the One Big Beautiful Bill, into law, those opposing the legislation, mostly Democrats, have been telling anyone who will listen that the new law will cut Medicaid benefits to Americans in need.
“If you believe that, you also believe in the Tooth Fairy and the Easter Bunny, and that Jimmy Hoffa died of natural causes.”
. . .
“Many of those public officials telling lies about the OBBB are doing it because they need to justify voting against the main provision in the OBBB: the biggest tax cut in American history. They know most Americans are too busy going to work and raising their families to read through the Medicaid provisions in the bill, and they are choosing to scare people with lies about cuts to the program.
“The truth is that the OBBB will leave Medicaid stronger than ever by protecting benefits for those who truly need them.”
Read Kennedy’s op-ed here.
