Louisiana senator on ongoing war with Iran and President Trump cutting congressional funds

(CBS, KYMA) - Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) spoke with Margaret Brennan on Face the Nation Sunday about the ongoing war with Iran.

Brennan brought up a Wall Street Journal report saying President Donald Trump has a secret plan to restart the bombing campaign in Iran after the midterm elections.

This prompted her to ask Sen. Kennedy if the renewed bombing is something he would support, to which he said:

"I don't know. I haven't seen the classified intelligence. Iran made an offer recently to the president. It was not a serious offer. The president's not Bambi's baby brother. He turned it down. We need to continue doing what we're doing. The sanctions, the blockade. The truth is, if you're fair minded at all, Iran is a sucking chest wound and the world is safer for it. It's public and private sector is held together with duct tape and spit. Now, there's just one problem. The strait is at least partially closed, and it's affected the price of oil and oil's in everything, including gasoline. And it's painful as hell. And we've got to either figure out a way to settle this thing, to get the strait open or to escalate. I would not send in troops. We could send in troops and we could open the strait. But once you send them in, you've got to leave them there. And that creates a whole new host of problems."

During the interview, Brennan and Kennedy talked about President Trump cutting nearly $1 billion in congressionally approved funds without Congress' consent.

Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), who is the Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, said it was the "latest attempt to undermine Congress's constitutional power of the purse," and said it was a "clear violation of the law," adding that she wants to take action against "these illegal actions."

When asked if he shares her concerns, and if he plans on joining her effort to take action, the senator said:

"I love Susan like a taco, but she's wrong. First, Congress didn't approve this stuff. When Congress appropriates money, we do it in broad categories. For example, I'm making this up, $250 million to improve relations with sub-Sahara Africa. And then the money goes to the bureaucracy. And a lot of times the bureaucracy wastes it. Spending porn is what I call it. That's how we ended up with millions of dollars for circumcisions in Zambia and electric buses in Rwanda."

To watch more of Brennan's interview with Kennedy, click here.