Sen. Kennedy asks Trump to intervene in spending summit: ‘One man’ can unite GOP

Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., is calling on President-elect Donald Trump to step in and “manage” the GOP caucus as a major temporary spending bill and partial government shutdown loom in Washington.

Speaking to Fox News on Thursday, Kennedy suggested that Trump is the only person capable of governing in the GOP, and that House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., needs his help to get things done in DC.

“There’s only one person who can control the Republican caucus in the United States House of Representatives right now, and that’s Donald J. Trump,” he said on “Fox & Friends.”

“Can that change? Sure, but Speaker Johnson can’t [control the caucus]. It is clear that he could not do that. It’s not his fault. I’m not sure there’s anything you can do, but he can’t unify all the Republicans in the House and, in order to pass CR, he has to do so without the support of the Democratic Alliance. “

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“I think President Trump can,” he continued. “And I hope you’ll consider coming to Washington.”

As of Thursday, America’s national debt – a measure of what US taxpayers are willing to pay to the nation’s creditors – stood at $36,189,345,826,140.62, and the number continues to rise at a rapid pace. A $2 trillion deficit is also predicted by 2025.

Kennedy asked the president-elect to sit down with Speaker Johnson and incoming Senate Majority Leader John Thune, RS.D., to come up with a “new-bodied CR [continuing resolution]” that is very digestible to conservatives who oppose its expensive use.

“Let’s face it, he’s the president now,” Kennedy said of Trump, who won’t take office until Jan. 20. “It’s not President Biden.”

“If the president wants to do something about the debt limit, we need to find out what it is and put it in the bill. Then the president will have to help Mike sell it in the house… Speaker Johnson’s problem is, on the Republican side, he has a lot of free range chickens, I don’t blame them, but they’re roaming around and Mike can’t control himself, ” he says.

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House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., speaks to reporters at the US Capitol on Thursday, September 12, 2024. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

The Conservative opposition has sent lawmakers back to the drawing board to chart a new way forward.

President-elect Trump’s nominee to co-chair his Department of Government Operations (DOGE), Elon Musk, also opposes the move as it was, and even called on lawmakers who supported the bill to lose their seats.

Trump’s transition team also released a joint statement by Trump and Vice President-elect JD Vance opposing the first iteration of the deal.

Kennedy said he also sees this bill as a problem.

“It’s a lot of traffic,” he said.

“I just knew when I saw the credit there was going to be a problem. This thing was as big as Costco.”

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