Sen. John Kennedy of Louisiana didn’t hold back Thursday night on Fox News, saying his own party’s leaders have been brushing off his ideas while the government shutdown drags on.
Kennedy joined The Ingraham Angle to talk about the stalemate that began on October 1, when the Senate couldn’t get enough votes to move a Republican funding bill forward. Even though the GOP holds a 53-47 majority, it takes 60 votes to clear the procedural hurdle needed to advance any major bill.
Democrats have stood firm, saying they won’t back a funding deal unless it includes an extension of Affordable Care Act premium subsidies that are set to expire on December 31. Republicans have refused, and the standoff has left the government partially closed.
President Donald Trump has been calling for drastic action. He’s urged Senate Majority Leader John Thune of South Dakota to kill the filibuster and scrap the 60-vote rule so Republicans can jam their spending plan through without Democrats.
Host Laura Ingraham pressed Kennedy on whether he agrees with Trump’s push. “So, Senator, do you agree with President Trump that, given what’s at stake for the country, that it’s time for Republicans to consider dumping out of the filibuster rule, because the Democrats are obviously gonna dump out of it themselves the next chance they get and run the table, regardless of what Republicans do?” she asked.
Kennedy didn’t hesitate. “No, I don’t agree with him,” he said. “I’m not ready to get rid of the filibuster or the blue slip. I don’t know what the Senate in the next Congress is going to look like. I think Republicans will hold the Senate. I think what President Trump is really frustrated about is the fact that the Senate’s not doing anything, and he’s right.”
He said the chamber managed to pass one major Trump-backed piece of legislation, the so-called “one big beautiful bill,” which went through budget reconciliation and only needed a simple majority. But after that, Kennedy said, the Senate just stopped working.
“And since then, we’ve done nothing, zero, zilch, nada,” he said. He added that he’s been pushing leadership to use the same reconciliation process again to pass a second round of bills tied to Trump’s agenda. “In fact, we had a meeting. Every time I brought up the idea of doing a second reconciliation bill where we don’t need Democrats, our leadership just ignores me,” he said.
Kennedy didn’t mince words about who he blames for the inaction. “I don’t blame the president for not being frustrated,” he said. “He’s frustrated that we’re not getting up off our ice-cold, lazy butts and passing bills that would be part of his agenda.”
His remarks gave a rare public glimpse of the frustration simmering inside the GOP caucus as the shutdown drags into another week with no deal in sight and tempers flaring on both sides of the aisle.