We have had a lot of whistle-blowing going on out of the Department of Homeland Security, low morale. I want to make sure [John Francis Kelly] understands the agency he's stepping into. So I'll reserve judgment until after confirmation hearings.

I've tried for years to get Republicans to help us fix some of the mistakes that we made in the Affordable Care Act. There are things we can do to shore up the exchanges, to make those pools healthier, to bring down costs. I would like to see us work together on that.

There's nothing that irritates Americans more than the fact that some members of Congress think they are entitled to their own set of rules. And it's true - too many people in Washington live in an alternate reality.

I'm going to wait for the confirmation hearings. I'm familiar with General [John Francis ] Kelly because of my work on the Armed Services Committee. I think he is a fine general and I want to make sure that he has a handle on some of the complicated issues that are contained within Homeland Security.

When you work in the United States Senate, and you are around people of all different ideas and beliefs, you realize that what our Founding Fathers did that was so genius, is that they made the Senate the place where compromises are supposed to happen because of the makeup of the Senate.

The White House has something in common with the rest of America, and that is disdain for Congress. It is hard to blame them.

If every crime victim had to have perfect judgment, we could empty our prisons.