On Wednesday, the United States Senate voted against legislation that would stop the killing of barred owls in order to save the northern spotted owl.
This was the practice of the Joe Biden administration, and, for what it’s worth, current Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum also supports it. I’m not going to pick a side here, and I’ll get into the details in a moment so you can make your own decision, but I am curious as to how Congress can’t end the Schumer Shutdown, but can spend who knows how much time talking about whether or not it should play God and kill owls. Our tax dollars at work.
S.J.Res.69 was introduced by Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) and co-sponsored by Sens. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), Katie Britt (R-Al.), Rick Scott (R-Fla.), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), and James Lankford (R-Okla.), but it failed to pass in a 25-72 vote. The “yeas” were mostly Republicans, though a couple of Democrats — Sens. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) — crossed party lines, as did Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.).
So, what’s this all about? As I said, the legislation is aimed at stopping a Biden-era “owl management program.”
Apparently, barred owls are invasive to certain regions along the West Coast, and they cause problems for native northern and California spotted owls. According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service:
Barred owls are larger, more aggressive, and more adaptable than northern spotted owls. They displace spotted owls, disrupt their nesting, and compete with them for food. Researchers also have seen a few instances of barred owls interbreeding with or killing spotted owls. Because the spotted owl is already struggling due to its reduced habitat, the effect of the barred owl’s presence is an added stressor. An already vulnerable population has a much more difficult time withstanding dramatic changes in the ecosystem such as the encroachment of a competitor.
Barred owls are native to North America, but they typically live east of the Mississippi River. No one is exactly sure how they ended up out west, and there is debate on whether it was due to human intervention or just the natural course of things.
Either way, the U.S. government has decided that only it can fix it.
Kennedy calls it DEI for owls.
In a speech on the Senate floor on Wednesday, he said in a way only he can:
The Department of Interior is mad at the barred owl because the barred owl’s a better hunter. The barred owl is just a better hunter. That’s just the way it is. You know, just, just, just like the Senate president, president is better-looking than me, I accept that. That’s the way God made us… Now, the spotted owl isn’t on the endangered species list, but they say, ‘This isn’t fair.’
The, the barred owl is, is a better hunter than the spotted owl, and that’s causing the spotted owls’ population to decrease. So, the Department of Interior, in its infinite wisdom, has come up with DEI for owls. They’ve come up with quotas for owls.
The barred owl, because nature, God, whatever you believe in, made them better hunters, now has to give up its rights, has to give up its life, because the spotted owl is not as good of a hunter.
NOT WISE — Dep. of Interior introduced a $1.35B barred owl extermination plan, because they felt bad for spotted owls. 🤡
Sen. Kennedy: “The Senate President is better looking than me. I accept that. God made the Barred Owl a better hunter!” ACCEPT THAT! pic.twitter.com/zCzjJ8rE0J
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) October 29, 2025
Kennedy is right. The northern spotted owl is not endangered, but it is considered an at-risk species. And while the barred owl does a play a role in its status, loss of habitat due to human activity does too.
The plan, which was finalized last year, would involve killing about half a million barred owls over the course of three decades. “Lethal removal would be accomplished by broadcasting recorded barred owl territorial calls, which attract territorial barred owls, and shooting barred owls that respond and approach closely,” according to Fish & Wildlife. Analysts say it could cost $1.35 billion.
“I can’t think of a rule … that better demonstrates the arrogance, the hubris, of the federal administrative state,” the senator said, adding, “This regulation is stupid and we will live to regret it.”
Kennedy also said that Burgum has called him asking him to reconsider the legislation, but the senator told him that he should call someone who cares and that the secretary was “mad as a mama wasp.”
Animal rights groups, conservation groups, timber companies, Native American tribes — they’ve all weighed in, and many are mixed on the issue. They can all debate whether it’s right or wrong, but Kennedy’s assertion seems to be that this is not the job of the federal government to handle, especially not to the tune of $1.35 billion.
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