WASHINGTON – Today, Sens. John Kennedy (R-La.), ranking member of the Senate Committee on the Judiciary, Subcommittee on Federal Courts, Oversight, Agency Action, and Federal Rights, and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), the subcommittee chair, released a report entitled: Overprivileged: A Closer Look at Congressional Oversight, Executive Privilege and the Separation of Powers.
The new report breaks down the logjam of information disputes between the executive branch and Congress, which is challenging Congress’s constitutional authority to conduct oversight. The senators found that the executive branch’s compliance with the traditional “accommodation process” has waned under recent administrations of both political parties. They urged Congress to take up legislation to restore its constitutional oversight authority on a bipartisan basis.
“The accommodation process developed as a way to balance the competing, legitimate needs of Congress and the executive branch, allowing each to carry out its constitutional responsibilities while respecting those of the other branch. That process served the country and the American people for more than 200 years, until recent developments disrupted it. The new process, fueled by the executive branch’s overreaching interpretations of executive privilege and the separation of powers, serves recalcitrant executive branch officials, not congressional oversight,” wrote Kennedy and Whitehouse.
For more than 200 years, Congress and the executive branch overwhelmingly engaged in good-faith compromise to settle disputes between Congress’s oversight authority and the executive branch’s authority to maintain confidentiality of sensitive information. In recent decades, however, the executive branch—largely through the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel (OLC)—has increasingly deployed hardball tactics and novel legal theories to obstruct congressional oversight in violation of the Constitution’s separation of powers.
While OLC could end this obstruction by reevaluating its opinions related to congressional oversight, OLC has indicated that it is unlikely to do so voluntarily. In their report, Kennedy and Whitehouse lay out the breadth of legislative proposals to revitalize congressional oversight authority, ranging from sharpening existing enforcement tools to speeding up judicial resolutions. The senators urged their fellow lawmakers to take up bipartisan reform efforts to strengthen Congress’s hand in the accommodation process.
“Without a robust oversight power, Congress cannot serve the vital function of exposing misconduct and providing accountability that our Constitution and our democracy demand. Accordingly, members of all parties should agree on the urgent need for reforms that would revive Congress’s oversight authority and restore Congress’s coequal position in the separation of powers,” concluded the senators.
The report comes after the Federal Courts, Oversight, Agency Action, and Federal Rights Subcommittee held two hearings on the process and substance of executive privilege determinations during the 117th Congress. At the first hearing in August 2021, the subcommittee heard from a bipartisan panel of experts about the executive branch’s increasing use of executive privilege and related doctrines to withhold vast amounts of information and stymie oversight requests from Congress. At the second hearing in October 2022, the subcommittee heard from Christopher Schroeder, Assistant Attorney General for OLC, to better understand OLC’s perspective on executive privilege and the accommodation process. That hearing marked the first time in 20 years that a sitting, confirmed Assistant Attorney General for OLC had appeared before Congress.
The full report is available here.
WASHINGTON – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.), a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, today announced $63,669,631 in Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) grants for Louisiana disaster aid.
“Hurricanes Katrina, Laura and Ida devastated too many Louisianians in New Orleans and Lake Charles. I’m thankful this $63.7 million will support the ongoing recovery in their communities,” said Kennedy.
The FEMA aid will fund the following:
- $38,690,792 to the city of New Orleans toward new construction for the OJC Mental and Medical Services Building in wake of Hurricane Katrina.
- $14,539,167 to the Calcasieu Parish Police Jury for debris removal made through the Public Assistance Alternate Procedures Pilot Program as a result of Hurricane Laura.
- $6,610,368 to the Calcasieu Parish School Board for permanent repairs to the FK White Middle School, which Hurricane Laura damaged.
- $2,384,761 to the Calcasieu Parish Police Jury for debris removal related to Hurricane Laura.
- $1,444,543 to the Louisiana Children's Medical Center for emergency protective measures related to Hurricane Ida.
View Kennedy’s comments here.
WASHINGTON – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) today spoke on the Senate floor to send Louisianians his Christmas wish for them.
“I have lived in five other states and a foreign country, Mr. President, and I have never, ever met people like my people in Louisiana. They are hardworking, they are God-fearing and they are fun-loving,” said Kennedy.
“So, my wish this Christmas to my people is first, enjoy your family, worship our God, and may your sunrises be full of hope and your sunsets be full of peace.”
Video of Kennedy’s full remarks is available here.
Kennedy: Border crisis appears intentional
Dec 21 2022
Watch Kennedy’s remarks here.
WASHINGTON – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) today addressed the ongoing crisis at the southern border.
“It is becoming harder and harder not to conclude that the border crisis intentional. . . . None of the president’s positions on this make any sense to me, unless I view it from the perspective of, well, maybe he wants this to happen. Maybe he is listening too much to the berserk wing of his own party—the immigration activists—who think that vetting people at the border is racist. I think the president has misread the American people,” said Kennedy.
Background:
Kennedy helped introduced the WALL Act to fully fund the wall along the southern border in order to protect both U.S. citizens and immigrants.
Kennedy also helped introduce the Keep Our Communities Safe Act, which would close the “catch-and-release” loophole that requires the government to release illegal aliens into the U.S. interior after detaining them for six months, if no other country accepts them for deportation.
The senator helped introduce a resolution highlighting rising crime rates in the U.S. in connection with mass influxes of migrants at the southern border.
Kennedy has asked the Department of Homeland Security Inspector General to investigate the Biden administration policies that have produced the worst border crisis in U.S. history and left border patrol agents strapped for resources to contend with it.
View Kennedy’s full remarks here.
Watch Kennedy’s remarks here.
WASHINGTON – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) today championed the Congressional authorization of a 100 percent federal cost share to restore the wetlands destroyed by the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet (MRGO). Kennedy’s support for the 2022 Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) helped to secure this win for the people of southeast Louisiana.
The MRGO destroyed over 600,000 acres of coast surrounding the Greater New Orleans area. It also allowed saltwater to flow from the Gulf of Mexico inland, destroying more than 27,000 acres of Louisiana’s wetlands, which functioned as a natural storm buffer that Louisianians rely on.
With less wetlands and more open water, the MRGO became a storm surge superhighway during Hurricane Katrina.
“We made a mistake building MRGO,” Kennedy said.
“In our Water Resources and Development Act, which this Senate just passed . . . we have, at long last, done something that I’ve been working on since I got here from day one . . . We authorized the Corps of Engineers to begin implementing the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet restoration plan . . . That means the Corps is going to fill it in and start repairing the wetlands and other ecological and environmental damage that was done when we built this channel. It will not cost the people of Louisiana one single penny.
“That’s why I say I rise in gratitude and thanksgiving. I want to thank this Congress, and I want to thank the Corps of Engineers,” Kennedy concluded.
The most recent estimated cost of the MRGO restoration was $3 billion in 2012. More damage to the wetlands and marshes has occurred since 2012, so the $3 billion estimate likely falls below the current cost to restore the area.
View Kennedy’s full remarks here.
WASHINGTON – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.), a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, today announced $1,348,743 in a Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) disaster aid grant for Louisiana.
“This $1.3 million will support Calcasieu Parish as it works to rebuild part of its airport from hurricane damage,” said Kennedy.
The FEMA aid will fund the following:
- $1,348,743 to the West Calcasieu Airport Managing Board to replace the Southland Field Big Bulk Community Hangar B facility, which was damaged during Hurricane Laura.
Kennedy announces $6.2 million to expand broadband at Southern University and A&M College
Dec 19 2022
WASHINGTON – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.), a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, today announced $6,227,200 in National Telecommunications and Information Administration funds to expand broadband internet access and to hire and train information technology personnel at Southern University and A&M College.
“Broadband expansion is key to providing Louisiana students with the tools they need to succeed after college. I’m grateful to see that this $6.2 million will help improve internet access and support information technology personnel at Southern University and A&M College,” said Kennedy.
WASHINGTON – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) today joined Sens. Mike Braun (R-Ind.), Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.), James Lankford (R-Okla.) and Richard Burr (R-N.C.) in introducing a Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution, S.J. Res. 68, to nullify the Biden administration’s Department of Labor (DOL) rule that would encourage fiduciaries to support liberal policy priorities over maximizing Americans’ retirement security.
“President Biden’s attempt to use Americans’ retirement plans to bankroll the woke agenda is fiscally irresponsible and morally wrong. Congress must reject this rule before American families suffer even more just so that Biden can support the Left’s pet projects,” said Kennedy.
“When American workers invest in their retirement, they should be able to trust their financial advisors to be investing with their best interests in mind, not the interests of liberal activists. American retirement funds have already taken such a hit from Joe Biden’s failed economic policies, they should not be politicized. I am proud to lead my colleagues in this effort to overturn the Biden administration’s woke 401k rule and protect Americans’ retirement funds,” said Braun.
Background:
- In November, the Biden administration’s Department of Labor finalized the Prudence and Loyalty in Selecting Plan Investments and Exercising Shareholder Rights rule, which allows fiduciaries to consider “climate change and other environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors” when they make investments or proxy vote for shareholders. The rule undoes a Trump administration rule that focused on financial factors.
- A Harvard Business Review study found that investing in funds that prioritize ESG goals has poor return rates.
Rep. Andy Barr (R-Ky.) led the effort in the House of Representatives.
Watch Kennedy’s full remarks here.
WASHINGTON – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.), on the Senate Floor, urged the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to explain how it is implementing its new pricing algorithm for calculating flood insurance premiums, known as Risk Rating 2.0. FEMA’s new algorithm has sent the rates of many National Flood Insurance Program policyholders in Louisiana skyrocketing. Despite repeated questions from Kennedy, FEMA has yet to clarify how it determines new rates.
“It doesn’t do any good to offer flood insurance if people can’t afford it, and that’s what FEMA’s doing right now,” said Kennedy.
“We, in Louisiana, have the highest participation rate in the country, bar none. And despite what some people may think, my people who are buying flood insurance, they’re not multimillionaires. They’re working people,” he explained.
“There is no transparency with Risk Rating 2.0. People have absolutely no idea—members of the United States Congress have no idea—how this algorithm works and how they come up with a specific price for every home in America. But I'll tell you what we do know: All the prices have gone up.
“A lot of those levees in Louisiana are paid for by Louisiana citizens. We have asked, ‘How does this algorithm, in raising these prices, take into effect or take into account the levees? Are we getting credit for our levees?’ And they say, ‘Sure.’ And I say, ‘Can you show me?’ And they say, ‘If I showed you, I’d have to kill you. This is a secret algorithm.’ No transparency, none!” Kennedy continued.
“FEMA says it’s going to make everything fairer. I know this much: It’ll make everything more expensive. According to FEMA’s estimates, 80% of the people who have flood insurance and have to have flood insurance in Louisiana . . . are going to see their rates go up. The likely average full-risk premium for a home in Louisiana under this new secret sauce is $1,700. Under the old system, it was $766. That’s a 122 percent increase because of this algorithm, the secret sauce, which FEMA will not let us see. My people can’t afford this, Mr. President, and the reality is people are already dropping flood insurance,” he said.
“In eight of my parishes or counties, the number of policies has dropped from 290,000 in October of ‘21 to 267,000 in November of ‘22. So that’s 22,000 people—almost 23,000 people—out of only eight parishes or counties who’ve had to give up their flood insurance,” explained Kennedy.
Speaking of the Flood Insurance Pricing Transparency Act, which he has cosponsored, Kennedy said, “ It’s a bipartisan bill. All we’re asking that FEMA do is talk to us and tell us how they’re coming up with these rate increases. The American people pay the salary of the people of FEMA, and my people . . . deserve to know how their policies are being priced.”
View Kennedy’s full remarks here.
WASHINGTON – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) today urged the U.S. State Department’s Ambassador-at-Large in the Office of International Religious Freedom, Rashad Hussain, and Douglas Hickey, the U.S. Ambassador to Finland, to raise concerns over the Finnish government’s refusal to accept the acquittal of Dr. Päivi Räsänen and Rev. Dr. Juhana Pohjola.
Räsänen and Pohjola were unanimously absolved of criminal liability for expressing their religious beliefs on March 30, 2022, and the court ordered Finnish prosecutors to pay nearly $67,000 in legal fees. The Finnish government, however, appealed the acquittal.
“Because Finnish prosecutors seek an appeal in a criminal case for years-old expressions of Christian faith, religious freedom remains under threat in Finland despite Dr. Räsänen and Rev. Dr. Pohjola’s acquittal over eight months ago. No person should be subjected to criminal prosecution for expressing their sincere religious views in a non-violent manner. If a member of the Finnish Parliament and a Lutheran bishop can be forced to endure criminal prosecution by the Finnish Government for their peaceful, closely held religious beliefs, what protections are afforded to ordinary citizens who lack the influence, resources, and media attention to defend against such a criminal prosecution?” asked Kennedy.
Kennedy originally wrote to the State Department in March 2022 to raise concerns about Finland’s prosecution of non-violent expressions of faith. The prosecution of Räsänen and Pohjolaoccurs while Europe continues to witness anti-Christian hate crimes and hostility toward Christian-led organizations throughout the continent.
“In my first letter on this issue, I asked our Department of State officials to stand up for religious freedom and stand against any erosion of this fundamental right—no matter where this erosion may occur. I urge you to continue to do so,” Kennedy wrote.
The letter is available here.
