Sen. John Kennedy (R-Louisiana) intervenes with President-elect Donald Trump to 'control' Republican caucus as huge stopgap spending bill and partial government shutdown looms in Washington I'm asking you to.
Kennedy said on Fox News Thursday that only Trump can rein in the Republican Party and that House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) needs Trump's help to make things happen in Washington, D.C. suggested.
“Right now, there's one person who can control the Republican caucus in the U.S. House of Representatives, and that's Donald J. Trump,” he said on “Fox & Friends.”
“Can we change that? Of course, but Chairman Johnson can't do that.” [control the caucus]. It's clear he can't do that. It's not his fault. I don't know if anyone can do that, but he doesn't have the ability to get all the Republicans in the House, and he needs to do it without Democratic support in order to pass CR. ”
The Hitchhiker's Guide to What Happened to the Interim Spending Bill
Sen. John Kennedy (R-Louisiana) called on President-elect Donald Trump to help House Speaker Mike Johnson rein in the Republican caucus and put together a “slim” continuing resolution. (Getty Images)
“I think President Trump can do that,” he continued. “And I hope he considers coming to Washington.”
As of Thursday, US government debt – a measure of how much money U.S. taxpayers are owed to the nation’s creditors – stands at $36,189,345,826,140.62, and that amount continues to rise rapidly. It is predicted that there will be a deficit of $2 trillion by 2025.
President Kennedy asked the president-elect to sit down with House Speaker Johnson and incoming Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R.S.D.) to devise a new “Skinny CR.” [continuing resolution]” That makes more sense to conservatives who opposed the exorbitant spending.
“Honestly, he's the president now. He's not President Biden,” Kennedy said of Trump, who won't be sworn in until Jan. 20.
“If the president wants to do something about the debt limit, we're going to have to find out what it is and put it in the bill. Then he's going to have to help Mike sell the debt limit in the House. …The problem with Speaker Johnson is that the Republicans have a lot of free-range chickens, and I'm not criticizing them, but they're roaming around and Mike can't catch them all by himself.” he said.
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House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) speaks with reporters at the U.S. Capitol on Thursday, September 12, 2024. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc, via Getty Images)
The conservative opposition party decided to take its members back to the drawing board and chart a new course.
President-elect Trump's pick to co-chair the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), Elon Musk, also opposed the bill in its entirety, even demanding that members of Congress who supported it lose their seats.
Trump's transition team also issued a joint statement opposing the first iteration of the agreement by Trump and Vice President-elect J.D. Vance.
President Kennedy also said he thought the bill was problematic.
“It's a multi-vehicle pile-up accident,” he said.
“As soon as I saw the bill, I knew I was going to be in trouble. It was as big as Costco.”
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