U.S. Senator John Kennedy (R-LA) speaks to reporters outside the Senate chamber between votes in the wake of U.S. President Donald Trump saying he may temporarily drop the nomination of Todd Blanche to be U.S. attorney general, at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., U.S., July 30, 2026. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein
Senate Republicans are divided over their priorities, a situation laid bare by Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) as he lashed out at Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) on Monday.
Speaking to Punchbowl News' Andrew Desiderio, Kennedy warned that Thune's move to focus on confirming nominees for President Donald Trump rather than work on a budget is a "huge mistake."
Kennedy added that when he's speaking to voters or campaigning on behalf of fellow Republican candidates, “You know one of the things I never say? I never look those people in the eyes and say, ‘We set a record for the number of nominees confirmed.’ I've never said that. And I don't think any other senator has ever said that. Because I don’t think the American people care.”
For months now, Senate Republicans have been boxed in and frustrated by the growing demands of Trump on policy — particularly his obsession with passing the SAVE America Act, a package of draconian voter restrictions.
Kennedy, a lawyer by trade, similarly had nothing but scorn over the weekend for the Trump administration's botched attempt to criminally prosecute people for supposed "vandalism" to the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool that turned out to be damage from improper renovation.
"The whole thing is a multiple vehicle pile-up," Kennedy said on "Meet The Press." "The president says it was caused by vandals. I don't know whether he really believes that or if it's part of his political messaging."