John Kennedy Proposed One Rule That Would End Washington’s Favorite Vanity Project

Charles Rangel used his congressional letterhead to raise money for a building named after himself.

Senator John Kennedy went after that racket in a Sunday interview on Face the Nation.

His fix comes straight out of Louisiana law, and it would take the fun out of every ribbon cutting.

John Kennedy Took Aim at Self-Promotion on the Taxpayer's Dime

Kennedy sat down with Margaret Brennan on CBS's Face the Nation on September 27.

Brennan pressed him on a DHS ad featuring President Trump and asked, "Is that the best use of taxpayer money?"

Kennedy didn't dodge.

"I don't think any public official, including President Trump or Kristi Noem or John Kennedy, should spend public money on private ads for themselves," he said.

Then he went further.

"I also think that we ought to have a rule that no politician can have a building named after him while he's alive. I think that would settle a lot of this controversy."

Kennedy joked he might end up "with a sombrero on my head" for saying it.

Then he delivered the kicker: "We have that rule in Louisiana. It works pretty well."

Louisiana Already Bans Naming Public Buildings After Living People

Kennedy wasn't exaggerating.

Louisiana Revised Statute 42:267 says no public building, public bridge, public park or public wildlife refuge "shall be named in honor of any living person."

The law has teeth.

Officials who break it must change the name and remove "all plaques, signs, or other evidence" of it.

Any citizen can sue to force compliance and collect attorney fees.

The only way around it is if the legislature specifically authorizes the name by law.

Kennedy's comments followed fights over President Trump's name going up on the Kennedy Center and the U.S. Institute of Peace.

Trump's name was briefly added to the Kennedy Center facade before courts ruled only Congress can rename the building.

The White House disagrees with Kennedy on the naming question.

Trump is a builder, and builders put their names on what they build – the people around him who pushed these renamings misjudged how it would play in Washington.

Kennedy put himself on the list right alongside the president.

Harry Reid Got an Airport While He Was Still Alive

Harry Reid ran the Senate for Democrats for eight years.

The Clark County Commission voted unanimously to strip McCarran off the Las Vegas airport and hand it to Reid.

Harry Reid International became official on December 14, 2021.

Reid, 82 years old, joined the ceremony remotely.

He died on December 28.

Under Kennedy's rule, the commission would have had to wait.

Democrats Turned Pork Into Plaques Long Before This Fight

Nobody played this game like Robert Byrd.

Citizens Against Government Waste crowned the West Virginia Democrat the "King of Pork" and handed him its first "Porker of the Year" award in 2002.

As Appropriations chairman, Byrd became the first lawmaker to steer $1 billion in pork back to his home state.

Dozens of buildings, roads, courthouses and schools across West Virginia carry his name.

The Robert C. Byrd Biotechnology Science Center at Marshall University opened in 2006, with Byrd still in office.

This was a former Ku Klux Klan member getting his name carved into granite with your money.

Then there was Charles Rangel.

The House voted 333 to 79 to censure the Harlem Democrat in December 2010.

Among the charges, he used congressional letterhead and staff to raise money for a center named after himself at City College of New York.

Why Kennedy's Rule Would Kill the Pork for Plaques Racket

The scheme works the same way every time.

A politician steers your tax dollars to a project, cuts the ribbon, and puts his name on the front door.

That building becomes a campaign billboard that never comes down.

A TV ad runs for a few weeks.

A name in granite runs for 100 years.

Kennedy's rule kills the incentive.

Bring home all the bacon you want, but your name doesn't go on the building until you're gone and history decides whether you earned it.

Louisiana lives under that rule, and the state has not run out of buildings to name.

Congress could write that rule for every federal building in America with one vote.

Any member of Congress who objects is telling you exactly what that building was for.

Sources:

• Landon Mion, "Sen Kennedy says no living politicians should have buildings named after them after Trump's moves," Fox News, Sept. 28, 2026.
• CBS News, "Transcript: Sen. John Kennedy on 'Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan,' Sept. 27, 2026," CBS News, Sept. 27, 2026.
• Louisiana State Legislature, "RS 42:267 – Naming public buildings, etc., in honor of a living person prohibited; penalty," Louisiana Revised Statutes.
• Michael Lee and Chad Pergram, "Former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid dies at 82," Fox News, Dec. 28, 2021.
• Brooke Singman, "Amid push to remove Confederate monuments, little outrage over Robert Byrd's namesakes in home state," Fox News, June 11, 2020.