Republican Sen. John Kennedy (La.) said the Senate has done “zero, zilch, nada” since it passed President Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” in July and that leadership “ignores me” when he proposes solutions to bypass Democrats.
“Every time I brought up the idea of doing a second reconciliation bill where we don’t need Democrats, our leadership just ignores me,” Kennedy told Fox News host Laura Ingraham Thursday.
“I don’t blame the president for 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.”
The Senate has been in a standoff over a House-passed GOP continuing resolution that would temporarily fund the government while giving members of both parties time to hash out a larger full-year federal spending bill.
The continuing resolution hit a wall against Senate Democrats, who refuse to pass the resolution unless it includes funding for expiring Affordable Care Act enhanced premium tax credits, which helps millions of Americans afford health care.
Senate Democrats’ refusal to vote for the continuing resolution has left the Senate without the 60-person majority needed to pass the legislation. Kennedy’s suggestion to put forward a second reconciliation bill would allow for Republicans to pass budget legislation using a simple majority.
A reconciliation bill is legislation that modifies government spending to fit budget requirements in the congressional budget resolution. It needs a simple majority to pass the Senate instead of the usual 60-person threshold and cannot be filibustered.
The first reconciliation bill passed this year by the federal government was Trump’s “big, beautiful” tax and spending bill. The Senate passed the bill with a simple majority.
In his Fox News appearance, Kennedy said the Senate has done nothing since then.
“We’ve done nothing, zero, zilch, nada,” he said.
