Senator John Kennedy (R-La.) addressed the U.S. Senate on December 4, 2025, focusing on a $1 billion welfare fraud scheme in Minnesota and urging legislative action to address inflation-related cost-of-living issues.
In his speech, Kennedy described the Minnesota fraud as a significant loss of taxpayer funds. “Over $1 billion of American taxpayer money has been stolen—just stolen. They can call it fraud, but a better term would be ‘stealing.’ This fraud has been centered in the Somali community in Minnesota. Now, I am not here to criticize the Somali community; I am here simply to describe what happened,” he said.
Kennedy also commented on allegations that criticism of the scheme was racially motivated. “There have been a lot of allegations about racism in these reports. They are saying: ‘Oh, you are just picking on the Somali community.’ I am not, and I don’t think the American people are. I think what they are picking on are crooks. . . . And it is a fact that the politicians, not the employees—the rank-and-file employees in the welfare offices—but the politicians in Minnesota let this happen. It is disgusting. . . . Man, these people ought to all be put in jail, including the politicians.”
After discussing the fraud case, Kennedy shifted his remarks to economic concerns affecting Americans nationwide. He called for using Senate reconciliation procedures to pass new legislation aimed at mitigating inflation’s impact on families’ budgets.
“When moms and dads in America lie down to sleep at night and they can’t, they are worried. They are worried about things like the cost of living. . . . And that is what we ought to be working on, Mr. President. . . . Through reconciliation, which is how we passed the One Big Beautiful Bill, we can pass these measures to increase wages for the American people with a majority vote. We won’t need Democratic votes. That is what we did with the One Big Beautiful Bill, and we can do it two more times before the midterm elections.”
Kennedy concluded by urging Senate leadership to consider another reconciliation bill focused on economic relief: “I am saying to the powers that be: Pretty please, with sugar on top—I will add a cherry. I have even got an old McDonald’s McRib coupon somewhere, and I will throw that into the mix too. Please bring another reconciliation bill. Please. Let’s deal with the problems that are causing moms and dads to lie awake when they lie down to sleep at night and can’t.”
