Skip to player
Skip to main content
Skip to footer
Search
Connect
Watch fullscreen
Like
Comments
Bookmark
Share
Add to Playlist
Report
John Kennedy Reads Out Example After Example Of Shocking 'Spending Porn' Tax-Funded Items
Forbes Breaking News
Follow
2 days ago
During remarks on the Senate floor Tuesday, Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) spoke about government spending.
Category
🗞
News
Transcript
Display full video transcript
00:00
Mr. President, as you know, we're going to start talking about, put up the first one,
00:06
we're going to start talking about the rescission package.
00:14
And I want to talk about that for a few minutes.
00:17
As you know, Mr. President, under our Constitution, Congress passes a budget.
00:24
We send that budget to the President of the United States, whomever that might be,
00:28
and the President executes or implements our budget.
00:36
Close that door for me, please.
00:39
And the President implements that budget.
00:43
On occasion, under federal statute, the President has the authority,
00:50
after we have passed a budget in Congress, to look at the budget and say,
00:54
you know, I don't need all this money.
00:58
To accomplish the goals that Congress established and instructed me to accomplish.
01:05
And so the President can contact us and say,
01:10
Congress, I would like you to rescind some of the spending in the budget that you sent to me.
01:19
It's called a rescission bill or a rescission package.
01:24
President Trump has sent us a rescission bill or a rescission package
01:31
asking the United States Congress to cut the budget by roughly $9 billion.
01:41
And that's what we're going to start voting on today.
01:46
Now, $9 billion is a lot of money,
01:49
except when you compare it to the overall federal budget.
01:54
$9 billion, despite the fact that it's a bucket load of money,
02:01
is one-tenth of one percent of the federal budget.
02:10
One-tenth of one percent of the federal budget.
02:14
It gives you an idea of how big the federal budget is.
02:21
I think most people, most adults anyway,
02:28
understand that in life,
02:32
what you say doesn't really matter.
02:34
What you say doesn't really matter.
02:39
It's what you do that demonstrates what you believe.
02:46
And that's certainly true in politics.
02:49
And that's certainly true in Washington, D.C.
02:53
Ignore what anybody in Washington, D.C. says.
02:57
Ignore it.
02:59
If you want to understand their behavior,
03:03
look at their behavior.
03:05
In Washington, D.C., as in life,
03:09
what you do is what you believe,
03:12
not what you say.
03:13
What you do is what you believe,
03:15
and everything else is just cottage cheese.
03:20
Now, President Trump,
03:23
whether you voted for him or not,
03:28
whether you like him or not,
03:30
ran on a platform of reducing the size of government.
03:36
And the people elected him.
03:41
And since day one,
03:44
the president has been very hard,
03:48
if you've paid attention to the news,
03:50
he's been working very hard to reduce government spending.
03:53
And he's reduced a lot.
03:55
He started out with a doge program
03:58
with Mr. Elon Musk.
04:01
Mr. Musk, of course, has left.
04:02
But the quest to reduce government spending,
04:07
wasteful government spending,
04:09
which I call spending porn,
04:12
continues.
04:12
Every Republican in the United States Senate
04:22
has voiced approval of what the president has done.
04:26
Every Republican,
04:29
every one of my colleagues,
04:31
myself included,
04:33
has said to the president,
04:34
attaboy, Mr. President,
04:35
go get them.
04:37
Keep issuing those executive orders.
04:39
Reduce the spending.
04:41
We're spending too much money.
04:43
We've got a $37 trillion debt.
04:45
Keep going, Mr. President.
04:48
And the president has,
04:49
but he's been doing it through executive order.
04:52
There's only so much you can do through executive order.
04:55
An executive order issued by a president
04:59
expires when the president's no longer in office.
05:02
The only way to permanently reduce spending
05:05
is to have Congress act.
05:11
And that's what the president's asking us to do
05:14
in this rescission bill.
05:19
What you do is what you believe,
05:22
and everything else
05:23
is just cottage cheese.
05:28
The rescission package
05:29
that the president has sent over is,
05:31
we're going to start,
05:32
we're going to start considering it today.
05:36
And after listening,
05:38
in some cases for years,
05:40
but certainly for the last
05:42
hundred plus days
05:43
since President Trump's been in office,
05:45
after listening to my Republican colleagues
05:48
talk about the importance
05:50
of reducing spending,
05:52
it's gut check time.
05:54
It is gut check time.
05:58
Because what you do
05:59
is what you believe,
06:00
not what you say.
06:03
And now my colleagues and I
06:04
have an opportunity
06:06
to really support the president.
06:09
Now, I don't know
06:10
if this bill is going to pass.
06:11
I do not know
06:13
if it's going to pass.
06:16
I mean,
06:16
I've heard a lot of wailing
06:18
and gnashing of teeth
06:20
and whining
06:21
and civilization's going to melt
06:24
if we cut one-tenth
06:25
of one percent of the budget.
06:27
And that's coming from
06:28
some of my Democratic colleagues.
06:30
They're entitled
06:31
to their point of view.
06:33
But I want to put this in context.
06:36
After all of us
06:38
on my side of the aisle
06:40
telling the world
06:41
that we need
06:41
to reduce spending,
06:44
if we vote against
06:46
this rescission package
06:47
and refuse to reduce spending
06:49
by one-tenth of one percent
06:51
of the budget,
06:53
we ought to hide our heads
06:55
in a bag.
06:57
We ought to hide our heads
06:59
in a bag.
07:02
Now, what kind of spending
07:04
is the president asking us
07:07
to reduce,
07:08
to eliminate?
07:10
That's important
07:11
because not all government
07:13
spending is wasteful,
07:14
but a lot of it is.
07:16
That's why I call it
07:17
spending porn.
07:18
I'm going to read you
07:20
some of the appropriations
07:22
that the president
07:24
is asking us
07:25
to eliminate
07:25
from the current budget.
07:27
And you be the judge.
07:28
Let the American people decide.
07:30
The president
07:34
is asking us
07:35
to eliminate
07:37
$5.1 million
07:39
of taxpayer money
07:41
in the American budget
07:42
and the federal budget
07:44
that is there
07:45
to, quote,
07:46
strengthen the resilience
07:48
of queer global movements.
07:50
The president
07:54
is asking us
07:55
to rescind
07:57
$6 million
07:58
for media organizations
08:02
and civic life
08:03
for Palestinians.
08:07
The president,
08:09
in light of our
08:09
$37 trillion budget
08:12
deficit,
08:13
is asking us
08:15
to reduce spending,
08:17
reduce a program
08:18
in the amount
08:19
of $3.9 million
08:20
for lesbian,
08:22
gay,
08:22
bisexual,
08:24
transgender,
08:25
queer,
08:25
and intersex population
08:27
in the Western Balkans.
08:31
The president
08:32
is suggesting
08:33
that we eliminate
08:34
a program
08:35
$1 million
08:36
for voter ID
08:38
programs
08:38
in Haiti.
08:40
This is your money, folks.
08:44
The president
08:45
is asking us
08:46
to reduce the budget
08:47
by $3 million,
08:49
which is appropriated
08:50
for, quote,
08:51
sexual reproductive health
08:53
in Venezuela.
08:56
$3 million
08:58
for circumcision,
09:00
vasectomies,
09:01
and condoms
09:02
in Zambia.
09:04
I didn't make
09:05
this stuff up.
09:06
It's in the budget.
09:09
$3 million
09:10
for Sesame Street
09:12
in Iraq.
09:13
$833,000
09:16
for transgender people,
09:19
sex workers,
09:20
and their clients
09:20
in Nepal.
09:24
$882,000
09:25
for social media
09:27
mentorship
09:28
in Serbia
09:29
and Belarus.
09:31
$3.6 million
09:33
for pastry
09:34
cooking classes,
09:36
cyber cafes,
09:38
and dance focus groups
09:39
for male prostitutes
09:41
in Haiti.
09:42
How many Americans,
09:46
Mr. President,
09:47
do you think
09:48
we should be spending
09:51
their money
09:52
to fund male
09:53
prostitutes
09:54
in Haiti?
09:57
But there it is
09:58
in our budget,
10:00
bigger than Dallas,
10:02
and the president
10:03
is saying,
10:04
cut it out.
10:05
$6.2 million
10:10
for Venezuelan
10:12
migrants
10:12
in Colombia.
10:13
$500,000
10:14
to buy
10:15
Rwanda
10:16
electric buses.
10:17
I love Rwanda.
10:19
If they want
10:19
electric buses,
10:21
they've got a budget.
10:23
$300,000
10:25
for a pride parade
10:27
in Lesotho.
10:28
$300,000
10:30
for lesbian,
10:32
gay,
10:33
bisexual,
10:34
transgender,
10:35
queer,
10:35
intersex advocacy
10:36
in Uganda.
10:39
$500,000
10:40
for biodiversity
10:42
in Peru.
10:43
I could keep going.
10:44
I could go
10:45
the rest of the day
10:46
and the night.
10:47
Now,
10:50
I know what you're
10:50
thinking.
10:52
How in God's name
10:54
on God's green earth
10:55
did this spending porn
10:57
get in the federal
10:58
government's budget?
10:59
Why would Congress
11:00
put it there?
11:03
Well,
11:03
I'm going to tell you
11:04
why.
11:07
We didn't.
11:10
When we
11:11
pass a budget,
11:13
we pass budgets
11:16
based on
11:16
programs
11:18
or agendas
11:19
or line items.
11:22
We don't
11:23
put in there
11:24
that we'd like
11:25
to spend
11:26
$5.1 million
11:29
strengthening
11:30
the resilience
11:30
of queer
11:31
global movements.
11:33
We appropriate
11:33
money
11:34
by agency
11:35
or line item.
11:36
For example,
11:37
we might appropriate
11:38
money for the
11:40
economic support fund.
11:43
Or if you look
11:44
at our budget,
11:44
you'll see money
11:45
appropriated
11:46
for the
11:46
United States
11:47
Institute of Peace.
11:50
And if you look
11:51
at our budget,
11:51
you'll see money
11:52
that Congress
11:53
has appropriated
11:54
for migration
11:55
and refugee
11:56
assistance.
11:58
And then this money
12:00
goes to the bureaucracy.
12:03
And the bureaucracy
12:04
takes the money
12:05
that we have appropriated,
12:07
for example,
12:07
to the economic
12:08
support fund,
12:10
and they decide
12:11
to give it
12:12
to their friends,
12:13
usually
12:13
non-governmental
12:15
organizations,
12:16
to fund
12:17
these nonsensical
12:20
items that I just
12:21
spent a few minutes
12:22
reading.
12:23
Congress didn't vote
12:24
to spend
12:25
$3 million
12:27
on sexual
12:28
reproductive health
12:29
in Venezuela.
12:30
We voted
12:32
for a program
12:33
that the bureaucrats
12:33
took
12:34
and spent
12:36
on sexual
12:37
health,
12:38
reproductive health
12:39
in Venezuela.
12:40
That's not an excuse,
12:42
but I get that
12:43
question all the time.
12:44
Why did Congress
12:45
vote to do this?
12:46
We didn't.
12:48
The bureaucracy
12:49
did.
12:50
It's a giant
12:51
rogue beast.
12:52
But the point is,
12:54
Trump caught it,
12:55
and his people
12:56
caught it,
12:57
and the president
12:57
is saying,
12:58
get rid of it.
12:59
We would
13:04
be better off
13:06
all these
13:07
programs
13:08
of spending
13:08
porn,
13:10
we'd be
13:10
better off
13:11
taking this money
13:12
and spending
13:14
it on tax,
13:16
on scratch
13:17
tickets
13:17
and blackjack.
13:20
We'd be
13:21
better off
13:21
taking all
13:22
of this money
13:23
that I just
13:24
talked about
13:25
and spending
13:26
it on
13:26
scratch
13:27
tickets
13:27
and blackjack.
13:28
at least
13:29
taxpayers
13:30
might have
13:30
a chance
13:31
of getting
13:31
a return.
13:34
That's not
13:34
out of control
13:35
this is.
13:35
But if you
13:36
listen to some
13:36
of my colleagues,
13:37
oh my God,
13:38
if we cut
13:39
$9 billion
13:40
civilization,
13:41
if we cut
13:42
this spending
13:42
porn,
13:43
civilization's
13:43
going to
13:44
melt.
13:44
now there's
13:48
one other
13:48
thing in our
13:49
budget
13:51
that the
13:53
president's
13:53
asking us
13:54
to cut.
13:55
He's asking
13:56
us to cut
13:56
a little over
13:57
$1 billion
13:58
for what I
14:02
will call
14:03
public
14:03
broadcasting.
14:04
when I
14:06
say public
14:07
broadcasting,
14:08
I'm talking
14:08
about the
14:08
corporation
14:09
for public
14:10
broadcasting,
14:11
I'm talking
14:12
about the
14:13
public
14:14
broadcasting
14:14
service or
14:15
PBS,
14:16
I'm talking
14:17
about national
14:18
public radio,
14:19
NPR as we
14:20
call it.
14:21
We spend
14:22
anywhere from
14:23
$500 to $600
14:24
million a year
14:25
on public
14:28
broadcasting.
14:29
Why do we do
14:29
that?
14:30
Well, we
14:30
started doing
14:31
it years ago,
14:32
at least 50
14:32
years ago,
14:33
a time when
14:34
there were
14:34
only three
14:35
television stations
14:36
and a few
14:37
radio stations
14:38
and newspapers.
14:42
And a lot of
14:42
folks in rural
14:43
areas, they
14:43
didn't get the
14:45
television stations.
14:46
They didn't get
14:47
any news at all.
14:47
They might live
14:49
far enough away
14:50
from a major
14:50
city so they
14:51
didn't even have
14:52
a daily newspaper.
14:54
So Congress
14:54
said, you know,
14:55
we want everybody
14:56
to know what's
14:56
going on in the
14:57
world.
14:57
We're going to
14:58
start public
14:59
broadcasting.
15:00
And we're
15:01
going to give
15:01
them money
15:02
every year.
15:04
And they
15:05
won't have to
15:05
run ads because
15:06
we're going to
15:07
spend taxpayer
15:08
money to give
15:09
to these radio
15:10
stations and
15:12
television
15:13
stations.
15:15
Well, that was
15:16
50 years ago.
15:18
Today,
15:20
American people
15:21
have access to
15:22
all forms of
15:23
media.
15:24
Streaming,
15:25
cable TV,
15:27
network TV,
15:29
TikTok,
15:30
Twitter,
15:32
newspapers,
15:33
those that are
15:33
left.
15:35
No one's in a
15:36
news desert
15:36
anymore.
15:38
So why are we
15:39
spending money
15:40
on public
15:41
broadcasting?
15:43
$500 million
15:44
a year.
15:46
Now, the other
15:47
factor, it's
15:48
undeniable that
15:50
public broadcasting
15:52
has become
15:53
political.
15:53
unless you've
16:01
been a huge
16:03
disappointment to
16:03
your parents,
16:05
you understand,
16:06
if you listen to
16:07
public broadcasting,
16:09
that it's
16:09
representing today
16:10
one political
16:12
point of view.
16:12
of the
16:15
president of
16:16
public broadcasting.
16:18
No one would
16:19
mistake her
16:20
for Walter
16:21
Cronkite, I
16:22
can assure you.
16:23
Her name is
16:23
Mathlin,
16:24
rather,
16:25
Catherine
16:25
Mayer.
16:26
this is her
16:28
position.
16:30
She's supposed
16:30
to be delivering
16:31
the news
16:32
objectively,
16:33
but this is
16:34
what she
16:35
has said.
16:36
Trump is a
16:37
deranged,
16:39
racist
16:39
sociopath.
16:40
the president
16:43
and CEO
16:46
of NPR
16:46
thinks that
16:47
America is
16:49
quote,
16:49
addicted to
16:50
white supremacy.
16:54
She has
16:55
denounced the
16:55
use of words
16:56
boy and
16:57
girl.
16:58
She says
16:58
that's
16:59
quote,
16:59
erasing
17:00
language
17:00
for non-binary
17:02
people.
17:05
She
17:06
contends
17:07
that the
17:08
United States
17:09
was founded
17:10
on the
17:10
basis of
17:11
quote,
17:12
black plunder
17:13
and white
17:14
democracy.
17:15
That's who's
17:15
running the
17:16
show over
17:16
there.
17:18
She's
17:19
entitled to
17:20
her beliefs.
17:21
This is
17:22
America.
17:23
You're
17:24
entitled to
17:24
believe what
17:25
you want.
17:27
And NPR
17:28
and PBS
17:29
and the
17:32
Corporation
17:33
for Public
17:33
Broadcasting
17:34
are entitled
17:35
to publish
17:36
and broadcast
17:37
what they
17:38
publish,
17:38
but not
17:40
on the
17:41
taxpayer's
17:42
dime.
17:44
When we
17:45
owe
17:45
$37
17:46
trillion
17:47
and we
17:48
really owe
17:49
that money,
17:50
we have
17:50
no business
17:51
spending
17:52
half a
17:53
billion dollars
17:55
a year
17:55
giving it
17:57
to any
17:58
form of
17:59
media.
18:00
We don't
18:01
fund CNN.
18:02
We don't
18:03
fund Fox
18:03
News.
18:04
We don't
18:04
fund
18:04
newspapers.
18:05
Why are
18:05
we funding
18:06
PBS and
18:08
NPR and
18:10
the Corporation
18:10
for Public
18:11
Broadcasting?
18:12
And all the
18:12
president is
18:13
saying, I
18:14
don't want
18:14
you to do
18:15
that anymore,
18:16
Congress.
18:17
I don't want
18:17
you to fund
18:18
any media,
18:18
any form of
18:19
media.
18:21
PBS, for
18:22
example, has
18:23
a right to
18:24
publish what
18:24
they want,
18:25
but Congress
18:26
shouldn't give
18:28
them taxpayer
18:28
money to do
18:29
it.
18:29
Let them go
18:30
raise money
18:31
in the private
18:31
sector.
18:31
And the
18:32
president's
18:32
right.
18:32
the president
18:34
is absolutely
18:35
right.
18:37
And that's
18:37
all this
18:37
rescission bill
18:38
is going to
18:39
do, Mr.
18:40
President.
18:41
It's going to
18:42
bring a little
18:43
bit of
18:43
sanity back
18:45
to our
18:48
appropriations
18:49
process.
18:50
I'm going to
18:50
end on this
18:51
note, Mr.
18:52
President.
18:52
I'm going to
18:53
end as I
18:54
begin.
18:56
What you
18:57
do is
18:59
what you
19:00
believe.
19:00
and everything
19:02
else is just
19:03
cottage cheese.
19:06
I've been
19:07
here 10
19:07
years, every
19:08
one of those
19:09
10 years, but
19:10
especially in
19:11
the last 100
19:12
days since
19:14
President Trump
19:15
was reelected
19:16
and started
19:16
talking about
19:17
reducing spending,
19:19
I've listened
19:20
to all of my
19:21
Republican
19:21
colleagues encourage
19:24
the president and
19:25
say, that's
19:25
great, we've
19:26
got to reduce
19:26
spending, we've
19:27
got to reduce
19:28
spending.
19:29
Well, here's
19:30
your chance.
19:32
Here's your
19:32
chance.
19:34
It's gut
19:34
check time.
19:36
You either
19:37
believe in
19:37
reducing spending
19:38
or you don't.
19:40
You either
19:41
support spending
19:43
porn or you
19:44
don't.
19:45
We're going to
19:46
find out who
19:46
does and who
19:49
doesn't here in
19:51
about three or
19:51
four hours.
19:53
Mr.
19:54
President, I
19:54
yield the
19:55
floor.
Recommended
1:57
|
Up next
Poll Shows Brutal News For Trump Over Jeffrey Epstein Files
Forbes Breaking News
today
2:29
John Barrasso Takes Victory Lap After Republicans Pass Rescissions Bill In Senate
Forbes Breaking News
today
2:10
Is The Search On For Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's Successor?
Forbes
yesterday
3:10
Dem Lawmaker Sounds Alarm On 'First Family's Involvement With Digital Assets' In Crypto Bill Debate
Forbes Breaking News
today
18:00
Cboe's Trailblazing Female Leaders Talk With Benzinga About Success In The Financial Industry
Benzinga
yesterday
3:14
Viral Labubu Dolls Resell For Thousands Online As TikTok’s New Big Hit
Forbes
yesterday
3:28
Robert Garcia Brings The Facts To Call Out Bondi, Trump, And Patel For Not Releasing Epstein Files
Forbes Breaking News
today
13:00
John Kennedy Lists Example After Example Of Tax-Funded Programs He Wants Cut
Forbes Breaking News
6/25/2025
2:58
John Kennedy Asks Jerome Powell About The Impact Of Tariffs On Inflation
Forbes Breaking News
7/7/2025
5:55
'Triggers Your Gag Reflex': John Kennedy Reads Shocking Tax-Funded Programs Ended By Trump Rescissions
Forbes Breaking News
7/9/2025
9:34
'What The Hell Happened To The Money?': John Kennedy Discusses Major Budget Challenges
Forbes Breaking News
6/11/2025
41:38
John Kennedy Proposes Amendment to Big Beautiful Bill to Raise Teacher Deductibles
Forbes Breaking News
7/1/2025
12:13
'Where Does The Money Come From?': John Kennedy Grills Officials About Funding Sources For Major Projects
Forbes Breaking News
6/12/2025
21:43
'It Brings Me No Pleasure To Point This Out...': John Kennedy
Forbes Breaking News
5/14/2025
2:38
‘My Instincts Are Not Infallible’: John Kennedy Explains Why He’s Withdrawing His BBB Amendment
Forbes Breaking News
7/1/2025
5:53
'Why Don't We Skip The Foreplay And Go Right To The Sex?': John Kennedy Gets Very Blunt At Senate Hearing
Forbes Breaking News
5/13/2025
5:22
John Kennedy Grills Jerome Powell About GOP's Big Beautiful Bill
Forbes Breaking News
6/25/2025
6:36
'What Happened To The Money?': John Kennedy Brings The Receipts Questioning Bhattacharya About NIH Grants
Forbes Breaking News
6/10/2025
3:37
John Kennedy Is Stunned By Howard Lutnick’s Answer About Reciprocity And Tariffs
Forbes Breaking News
6/5/2025
6:24
'My Mama Didn't Raise A Fool!': John Kennedy Grills Witness About Stanford's Use Of Taxpayer Money
Forbes Breaking News
4/30/2025
6:17
John Kennedy Presses Howard Lutnick For Clarity On Tariff And Tread Deal Strategy
Forbes Breaking News
6/4/2025
6:17
'Would You Ever Advise A Client Not To Abide By An Opinion?': John Kennedy Presses Judicial Nominees
Forbes Breaking News
5/21/2025
6:13
'Look, I'm Not Trying To Trick You...': John Kennedy Rapid-Fire Questions Judicial Nominees
Forbes Breaking News
6/4/2025
2:55
John Kennedy Cracks Up Fellow Lawmakers Pitching Questions To Susan Collins
Forbes Breaking News
7/10/2025
5:44
'They Found Prisoners Getting The Grants, Didn't They?': John Kennedy Brings Receipts To Question RFK Jr.
Forbes Breaking News
5/20/2025
