John Neely Kennedy is the junior United States senator from Louisiana, in office since 2017. A Republican, he previously served as Louisiana state treasurer from 2000 to 2017 and sits on the Senate Appropriations, Banking, Budget, and Judiciary committees.
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After leaving Anthropic, Jacob Coxon said Anthropic and OpenAI were irresponsibly racing toward self-improving superintelligence, while praising Anthropic’s current practices. Responses dispute catastrophic-risk forecasts, working inside AI labs, and whether governments should pause or regulate development.
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Jon Ossoff urges inspections, legislation and an AI treaty; Donald Trump says existing federal powers are sufficient. Their opposing positions raise a concrete question: should Washington add safeguards for frontier AI?
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FBI Director Kash Patel defended the bureau's removal of automatic hiring disqualifiers for prostitution, employee theft, and bestiality, saying it protects trafficking victims. Sen. Dick Durbin and former FBI official Andrew McCabe publicly disputed that framing.
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Rudy Giuliani, George Pataki, and some September 11 victims’ relatives opposed Zohran Mamdani attending the 2026 memorial, citing his rhetoric and associations. Mamdani said he would honor victims; other elected officials and a family group said excluding the sitting mayor would politicize the commemoration.
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An issue tracker recording where members of Congress and 2026 midterm candidates stand on the unauthorized Iran war, based on their votes on war-powers resolutions, campaign statements, and public remarks.
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Republicans say Jack Smith's team improperly obtained members of Congress's phone records and texts and used nondisclosure orders to hide it. Smith and Democrats say the toll records were approved and lawful; Smith says the texts came from White House phones. Member counts differ.
Role at the time: U.S. senator from Louisiana and member of the Senate Judiciary Committee
Statement summary
In his questioning of Smith, Sen. John Kennedy told Smith he had to know that seeking the phone records of senators violated the Speech or Debate Clause. He asked whether Smith told Chief Judge James Boasberg that the records were those of members of Congress, and suggested Smith did not because he knew the judge would not agree.
“Well, then you had to know it violated the speech and debate clause. In fact, when you went to Judge Boasberg, you didn't even tell him you were seeking the phone records of members of Congress, did you? Because you knew he wouldn't agree. He would say, hey, counselor, anybody who knows a law book from a J. Crew catalog knows that this violates the Constitution.”
The case asks whether the collection of members' phone records and messages was proper. Kennedy told Smith he had to know that seeking the records violated the Speech or Debate Clause and suggested Smith withheld from the judge that the records were members'. That rejects the collection as improper, so we labeled it Condemned.
Role at the time: U.S. Senator, Louisiana
Statement summary
John Kennedy voted nay on H.Con.Res. 89, a vote against directing the removal of U.S. forces from unauthorized hostilities with Iran.
“On the Concurrent Resolution H.Con.Res. 89: A concurrent resolution directing the President, pursuant to section 5(c) of the War Powers Resolution, to remove United States Armed Forces from hostilities with Iran.”
Voted against directing the removal of U.S. forces from unauthorized hostilities with Iran, a vote to let U.S. involvement continue without congressional authorization.
Role at the time: United States senator from Louisiana
Statement summary
Speaking to CBS News on September 23, 2026, Sen. John Kennedy said he and other Republican leaders want the Iran war to end, but he does not support Congress, in his words, pulling the rug out on President Trump by limiting his ability to strike Iran, particularly, he said, when the United States is winning. He called the genesis of most of that effort political and said it would hurt America, adding that everyone wants the war to end.
“I think the genesis of most, not all of that, but the genesis of most of that is political, and I think it would hurt America. Having said that, we all want the war to end.”
Kennedy said he wants the war to end but opposes congressional action to limit Trump's ability to strike Iran, defending the president's discretion to continue the campaign.
Role at the time: United States senator from Louisiana, quoted in an ABC News report
Statement summary
Sen. John Kennedy of Louisiana attempted to fast-track legislation requiring every AI company to be able to deploy a kill switch to stop the technology if it gets out of control, arguing the measure is warranted if there is even a one per cent chance a model could cease to be a tool and become what he called an independent species. Fellow Republican Rand Paul blocked the attempt. The quoted line is as broadcast by ABC News and breaks off mid-sentence in the segment.
“If there is even a 1% chance that one of these AI models can shed its nature as a tool and become an independent species.”
Kennedy supports it concretely, seeking to pass a federal mandate that AI companies be capable of shutting their systems down, and justifying it on a low-probability, high-consequence basis. That places him with Cantwell (728) and Hawley (798), who press for specific federal requirements, rather than with Huang (727) or Johnson (729). The closest competing label is “Mixed or conditional”; it loses because he attaches no condition to the requirement itself. Note that Kennedy questioned Kash Patel about FBI hiring standards in a separate case; this record concerns only his AI legislation.
Role at the time: U.S. Senator (R-LA)
Statement summary
Sen. John Kennedy announced legislation requiring AI models to have a mandatory shutdown capability.
“It would say every AI model has to have a kill switch, so they can shut those puppies down if they start acting like the Terminator.”
Kennedy's proposed mandatory "kill switch" legislation is a government-imposed safety intervention responding to AI risk, structurally similar to Bernie Sanders' already-documented bill announcement (classified condemns) elsewhere in this case.
Role at the time: U.S. Senator (R-LA); member, Senate Judiciary Committee
Statement summary
Sen. John Kennedy pressed Patel skeptically on the hiring-standards change and its public framing, while confirming the policy would not let someone who voluntarily engaged in the conduct become an FBI agent.
“Why would you even get into bestiality?... So you disqualified the animal?... But you’re not telling us today that if a human being had sex with an animal, they can still be an FBI agent?”
Kennedy’s own questioning accepts, in principle, that a genuine trafficking victim should not be automatically disqualified, while harshly attacking the policy’s process, messaging, and reputational cost ("Why would you even get into bestiality?"; "So you disqualified the animal?"). This combines conditional acceptance of the underlying principle with sharp criticism of its execution, rather than a flat condemnation or defense of the policy itself.
Role at the time: United States senator from Louisiana
Statement summary
Kennedy responded to the attendance question with a disparaging conditional statement rather than an unambiguous yes or no.
“It might be appropriate if he goes while wearing a paper bag over his head.”
The paper-bag remark is sarcastic disparagement, not a genuine unresolved condition.
Role at the time: U.S. Senator, Louisiana
Statement summary
John Kennedy voted Nay on H.Con.Res. 86, the Senate resolution directing the President to remove U.S. Armed Forces from hostilities with Iran.
“On the Concurrent Resolution H.Con.Res. 86: Directing the President, pursuant to section 5(c) of the War Powers Resolution, to remove United States Armed Forces from hostilities with Iran.”
A nay vote opposed the resolution directing the removal of U.S. Armed Forces from hostilities with Iran, allowing U.S. military operations in the war to continue.
Statement dates: June 23, 2026 to September 24, 2026
Statement dates: September 15, 2026 to September 17, 2026
Statement dates: September 29, 2026
Statement dates: June 23, 2026 to September 24, 2026
Statement dates: September 15, 2026 to September 29, 2026
Statement dates: September 29, 2026
Statement dates: August 11, 2026
Statement dates: June 23, 2026 to September 24, 2026
