参议员约翰·肯尼迪称议员们本周“只顾讨好橄榄球教练”，而选民仍在苦苦挣扎
2026年9月29日 美国东部时间上午10:30 / 福克斯新闻频道
作者：亚历克斯·米勒 福克斯新闻
《大学体育保护法案》即将在参议院投票
桑德拉·史密斯主持节目，参议院将就《大学体育保护法案》进行投票，以监管大学体育赛事。
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和以往许多选举一样，本次选举的核心议题仍是经济，但参议院在华盛顿仅剩的几周会期里，却将焦点放在了另一件事上：大学体育。
这一点让部分共和党人颇为棘手——他们迫切希望保住参议院的多数席位，却担心自己未能回应选民对生活成本的担忧。
“考虑到我们已经在这项法案上耗费了离谱的时间，我只希望这能成为美国参议院通过的最佳法案，”密苏里州共和党参议员乔希·霍利告诉福克斯新闻数字频道。
“那么，或许这将成为有史以来最完美、最无瑕的立法，”他打趣道。
FOX NEWS民调：受物价挤压，沮丧选民转向民主党
2026年7月22日周三，路易斯安那州共和党参议员约翰·肯尼迪在华盛顿特区国会山接受媒体采访。参议院多数党领袖约翰·图恩计划最早于下周就加密货币市场结构法案进行投票，但民主党批评该法案几乎无法遏制唐纳德·特朗普总统快速积累的加密货币财富。（彭博社 via 盖蒂图片社）
“我们本可以也本应该做很多事情，”这位参议员补充道，“我希望我们能在离任前完成这些事，拭目以待吧。”
霍利列出了他希望议员们优先解决的议题，这些问题最终都指向一个词：成本——无论是燃料、处方药、医疗保健，还是人工智能热潮带来的经济负担。
参议院预计将于本周三离开华盛顿，为即将到来的中期选举最后阶段的竞选活动奔波。但从2025年夏天至今，期间经历了数次政府停摆和党派斗争，在一些忧心忡忡的共和党人看来，选民钱包吃紧的问题早已被抛诸脑后。
不过，共和党人很快就会吹嘘他们去年取得的成就，其中最具代表性的当属这项“宏伟法案”——这是他们为解决国内日益严峻的经济负担问题所取得的标志性成果。本月早些时候在达拉斯举行的中期选举大会上，这是他们的主要竞选卖点，随着11月3日的临近，这一说法在参议院走廊里也越来越频繁地被提及。
参议院拟出台新规整顿大学体育“蛮荒西部”，为运动员和学校制定全面规则
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近期几周乃至几个月来，这种对国会不作为的担忧愈演愈烈，因为参议院的核心工作一直集中在推进德克萨斯州共和党参议员特德·克鲁兹提出的《大学体育保护法案》，该法案已于周一深夜在参议院顺利通过。
“我们整个星期都在忙着讨好橄榄球教练，”路易斯安那州共和党参议员约翰·肯尼迪说，“我会为这项法案投赞成票，但我可以向全美的父母们保证，当他们晚上躺下睡觉时……他们根本不会担心橄榄球教练的事情。”
肯尼迪表示，他和其他议员一直在向参议院多数党领袖、南达科他州共和党人约翰·图恩施压，要求再次推动一项专门针对生活成本问题的和解法案，或者至少提交一项能保护消费者免受人工智能热潮推高电价影响的法案。
“因为我们几乎毫无作为，”肯尼迪说，“这现在正让我们陷入困境。”
新选举议题引发焦虑，但共和党称华盛顿并非解决方案
图恩确实安排了参议院本周就一项法案进行投票，这可能是参议院在解决生活成本问题上的最后一次尝试。该法案要求人工智能公司承担数据中心日益上涨的公用事业成本的主要部分。
不过，这项由俄亥俄州共和党参议员乔恩·赫斯特德提出的法案预计会被民主党否决，民主党人不愿让共和党或特朗普取得胜利——尤其是在中期选举临近的当下。
2026年8月7日周五，北卡罗来纳州共和党参议员汤姆·蒂利斯在国会山接受记者采访。（汤姆·威廉姆斯/CQ报集团 via 盖蒂图片社）
但对一些共和党人来说，试图回应选民担忧的行动来得太晚，太少了。
北卡罗来纳州共和党参议员汤姆·蒂利斯回忆起自己当选北卡罗来纳州众议员并成为议长时的经历。他当时以改善经济为竞选纲领，一旦当选拥有施政权力，他和州内的共和党人就必须为这一问题负责，无论上届政府采取了何种行动。
“这才是真正展现领导力并解决问题的方式。你不能找借口说我们之所以掌权，是因为上届政府造成的问题，”蒂利斯告诉福克斯新闻数字频道，“我们就是靠这个当选的。但如果你承诺过要解决问题，那就必须做到。这就是我们现在需要做的。我只是觉得，找借口这种做法，根本不利于选举。”
不过，共和党人仍在争取秋季的第二次机会，特别是副总统JD·万斯，他本月早些时候呼吁选民“再给我们一次机会”。
当被问及万斯的这一请求时，蒂利斯说：“你知道吗？如果这真的管用，那可就破天荒了。”
亚历克斯·米勒是福克斯新闻数字频道记者，负责报道美国参议院事务。
Republicans fear they ‘haven’t done a damn thing’ to lower prices ahead of midterm reckoning
Sen John Kennedy said lawmakers spent the week ‘trying to make the football coaches happy’ while voters struggle
September 29, 2026 10:30am EDT / Fox News
By Alex Miller Fox News
The ‘Protect College Sports Act’ heads for Senate vote
Sandra Smith anchors as the Senate votes on the Protect College Sports Act to regulate college athletics.
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The key focus of this election, like many before it, is the economy, but the Senate has spent its waning weeks in Washington focusing on something else: college sports.
And that has proven a sticking point for some Republicans who are eager to maintain power in the upper chamber and worried that they aren’t meeting the moment to address voters’ concerns over the cost-of-living.
“I’m just hoping that this will be the best bill ever passed by the United States Senate considering the ungodly amount of time we’ve spent on it,” Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., told Fox News Digital.
“So maybe this will be the most perfect and pristine piece of legislation ever,” he quipped.
FOX NEWS POLL: SQUEEZED BY COSTS, FRUSTRATED VOTERS TURN TO THE DEMOCRATS
Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., speaks to members of the media at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, July 22, 2026. Senate Majority Leader John Thune is planning a vote on crypto market structure legislation as soon as next week despite Democratic criticism that the bill would do little to curb President Donald Trump’s rapidly accumulating crypto wealth.(Bloomberg via Getty Images)
“There’s a lot of things we could be doing and should be doing,” the senator added. “So I hope we’ll do those before we leave. We’ll see.”
Hawley rattled off those issues that he hoped lawmakers would tackle that all ended in one word, costs — be it for fuel, prescription drugs, health care or the financial burden of the artificial intelligence boom.
The Senate is expected to leave the nation’s capital on Wednesday to hit the campaign trail for the homestretch of the fast-approaching midterm elections. But from the summer of 2025 to now, with several shutdowns and partisan fights in between, the sting on voters’ wallets, to some concerned Republicans, has become an afterthought.
Still, Republicans are quick to tout their accomplishments from last year, notably the “big, beautiful bill,” as their signature achievement to tackle the growing issue of affordability in the country — it was a predominant pitch during the midterm convention in Dallas earlier this month, and can be heard increasingly in the halls of the Senate as Nov. 3 nears.
SENATE MOVES TO REIN IN COLLEGE SPORTS ‘WILD WEST’ WITH SWEEPING NEW RULES FOR PLAYERS, SCHOOLS
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The concern over inaction in the recent weeks and months has intensified as the main business in the Senate has been devoted to passing the Protect College Sports Act from Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, which cruised through the upper chamber late Monday night.
“We’ve been spending all week on trying to make the football coaches happy,” Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., said. “I’m voting for the bill, but I can assure that moms and dads out there across America, when they lie down to sleep at night … they’re not worried about the football coaches.”
Kennedy said that he and others have been pressuring Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., to take another shot at reconciliation tailored exclusively toward affordability issues, or at the very least to put a bill that would shield consumers from increasing electricity costs as part of the AI boom.
“Because we haven’t done a damn thing,” Kennedy said. “And it’s biting us in the ass right now.”
ANXIETY GROWS OVER EMERGING ELECTION ISSUE, BUT GOP SAYS WASHINGTON ISN’T THE ANSWER
Thune did tee up what will likely be the Senate’s last attempt at dealing with affordability for a vote this week on a bill that would require AI companies to bear the brunt of rising utility costs from data centers.
That bill, from Sen. Jon Husted, R-Ohio, is expected to be blocked by Democrats, however, who aren’t eager to give Republicans or Trump a victory — especially so close to the midterm elections.
Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., talks with reporters in the U.S. Capitol on Friday, August 7, 2026.(Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
But for some Republicans, it’s too little too late when it comes to actually trying to address voters’ worries.
Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., recalled a story when he won the North Carolina House and became speaker. He ran to fix the economy, and once he won the power to do so, he and Republicans in the state would have to own the issue, regardless of the previous administration’s actions.
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“That’s how you actually show some leadership and get it done. You can’t rationalize that we’re here because of a problem caused by the prior administration,” Tillis told Fox News Digital. “That’s how we got elected. But you gotta fix it if you promise to. And that’s what we have to work on. I just think rationalizing away, that’s just not good politics.”
Still, Republicans are asking for a second chance this fall, specifically Vice President JD Vance, who earlier this month asked voters to “give us another chance.”
When asked about Vance’s plea, Tillis said, “You know what? If it works, it’ll be a first.”
Alex Miller is a writer for Fox News Digital covering the U.S. Senate.