Senate Majority Leader John Thune: Trump Has ‘Decisive Mandate,’ Senate ‘Moving as Quickly as We Can’ to Confirm Entire Cabinet

WASHINGTON, DC — Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) told Breitbart News exclusively on Wednesday morning that the U.S. Senate is moving at a rapid clip to confirm President Donald Trump’s entire Cabinet, and that soon the chamber will have succeeded.

As of Wednesday afternoon, the Senate has confirmed 12 Cabinet-level officials for Trump—double the pace of both Trump’s first term and former President Joe Biden’s only term at this point—and it appears as though after major breakthroughs with the remaining nominees in the process that the Senate will end up confirming Trump’s entire Cabinet soon.

“At the moment at least, and this is despite the Democrat delays and stalling, the Senate is currently confirming nominees at double the pace of 2017 and 2021,” Thune told Breitbart News late Wednesday morning. “As of this morning, we’ve confirmed 11 and this afternoon we’ll vote on Scott Turner’s nomination, which will be the 12th confirmed Cabinet-level nominee. On this day in President Trump’s first term and in President Biden’s term for that matter, they only had six Cabinet nominees in place so, you know, Senate Democrats have slow-walked the process unfortunately and they’re choosing to do this the hard way and dragging it out but I think Senate Republicans have demonstrated we are serious about getting the president’s nominees confirmed as quickly as possible.”

Since this interview, Turner has been confirmed as Trump’s Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). He joins Trump’s Secretary of State Marco Rubio, CIA Director John Ratcliffe, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Attorney General Pam Bondi, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, Energy Secretary Chris Wright, Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins, and Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, as Cabinet or Cabinet-level appointments the Senate has confirmed.

As Vice President JD Vance told Breitbart News in an exclusive interview in his West Wing office in the White House on Tuesday, it appears as though all the rest of Trump’s Cabinet will be confirmed. Thune echoed that sentiment from Vance, saying the rest of Trump’s Cabinet picks all appear likely to have the votes needed to be confirmed and said it’s just now about grinding down the Senate Democrats in the process in the rules in committee and then should be the floor to get them all through.

“In most cases we’ve been able to grind the Democrats’ resistance down and we’re going to continue grinding until the president’s cabinet is in place and as you saw this week, as you pointed out, there were a couple of markups coming out of committee this week with Tulsi Gabbard getting reported out of the Senate Intelligence Committee and the Senate Finance Committee reported out RFK,” Thune said. “Those will both be set for floor votes early next week because they lay over for a day then I have to file cloture then the Democrats use the 30 hours and so they’re not going to obviously yield back on time on both of those but I feel good about where we are. It wasn’t easy, obviously, getting them through the committee and there were a lot of conversations right up to the end and we’re trying to make sure we have everybody on board and rowing in the same direction but eventually they got reported out of the two committees and are now available for floor consideration and I’m hopeful we’re going to get them across the finish line.”

Thune said the reason why Senate Republicans, who have a 53-seat majority after their pickups in the 2024 election, are working to ensure all of Trump’s Cabinet picks are confirmed is because he believes the voters gave Trump a “decisive mandate” in November.

“The president has, the American people handed him a decisive mandate,” Thune said. “It’s important we honor that mandate by confirming his nominees as quickly as possible. It hasn’t been easy. Some of these you have to grind through it. But we have to make sure he and his team have the tools and support they need to do the things he committed to doing whether it’s enforcing border laws and working to get violent criminals out of the country or making America prosperous again by streamlining the bureaucratic machine and getting rid of a lot of the costly Biden regulations or restoring American energy dominance not just to our energy security but energy dominance, which is going to lower costs but at the same time bolster our national security. Those are things that these people he is putting in place are focused on. Every one of them, as you pointed out, comes with a set of unique qualifications and it’s very fitting I think with the president and his vision and what he wants to see done for the country. The voters made it I think very clear: They want him to have his team in place so we’re not dilly-dallying around, we’re moving as quickly as we can to make sure that happens and he can continue with his agenda.”

Interestingly, while some of the confirmations have been easier than others, and they are not all done yet, but all remaining ones look promising for success, two key unifying characteristics among all of them are they are excellent communicators and they are change agents at their various departments and agencies. Thune said the process has shown how unique this moment is for American government.

“It’s a different face for government in a way that reflects this president’s transformational qualities. I think that’s evident in the people he’s nominating,” Thune said. “Some of them came in and these aren’t normal nominees and don’t fit the usual sort of Washington stereotype for the kind of people you’d nominate into these positions. But, as they went around and did their meetings, they are very compelling people who are articulate and have a vision for the agencies and departments they want to lead. One of the things I campaigned on in running for this job is empowering the committees and chairmen, and we’re seeing the results of that now. Our chairmen are doing a great job through the confirmation process accentuating the qualities and the characteristics of these nominees that are going to make them really effective in these positions and the nominees have done a great job of making the argument of why they are the right person for the job. So it is—it’s a different look. It I think reflects a different sort of mood in this country and a leader in President Trump who brings a different style of leadership. His picks I think reflect that and like I said we’re going to do everything we can to help him get them in place.”

Democrats have been fighting back throughout the process, even though they are in the U.S. Senate minority, resisting confirmation of almost every nominee at almost every turn. Thune has kept the Senate in for nights and weekends to just plow through the Democrat opposition. Asked for his reaction to what Democrats have done in confirmation hearings and by burning the clock they way they are, Thune said he and Senate Republicans “mean business” and will power past the Democrats.

“Part of it is they have to know when you threaten to stay here and to keep them here that you mean it,” Thune said. “I think we’ve demonstrated that and for that reason they have been willing in some cases to cut some time back or particularly around a weekend when they want to get out of here they will concede to our requests on how we want to handle our nominees. But they are going to do all night tonight, they tell us. They are going to stay here through the night to protest Russ Vought but we’re making them do that to make sure we get Russ Vought across the finish line. They want to have speakers down on the floor all through the middle of the night and that’s their prerogative if they want to do that but eventually they we are down and eventually we end up getting these people confirmed. Really it comes down to just keeping our people together. We have the votes, and if our votes stick together then not withstanding the Democrat attempts to stall and delay and their protestations we’re going to get this done. But they just kind of blew up—I was just over at the Senate Commerce Committee and Howard Lutnick’s nomination was up—and he should have gone out unanimously because he had a great confirmation hearing but the Democrats are sort of throwing a temper tantrum right now over other things that are happening with the president and his agenda so they all bloc-voted against him with the exception of John Fetterman so you’re seeing more of that. Same thing was true last night with Pam Bondi—her vote was party-line with the exception of Fetterman. So Democrats are locking down, they’re trying to use whatever tools they have at their disposal to drag this out. But at the end of the day they have to understand we mean business and I think they do and for that reason I think we’ve just been able to kind of grind them down. I think in the end you’ve got to convince them you’re serious.”

Amazingly, though, as Democrats—because they do not have the votes and are in the minority—keep losing every single one of these epic fights they put up and Trump and Republicans win every single one, Thune said the victories are that much sweeter at the end of it and all it does is show the world that the Democrats are a wayward party without any clear purpose or mission.

“Yeah and it doesn’t seem they realize yet just how far out of step they are with the American people,” Thune said. “They have this, the things they’re complaining about, they just don’t resonate. These protests and temper tantrums, and like I said they’re going to keep us here all night tonight evidently protesting Russ Vought, the American people are not responding to that. I think they’re a party right now without an identity. They haven’t figured out that they’re still sort of in the state of denial about the election and I think it’s a problem for them. The only thing they can do is what they’re doing right now I supposed, but in the end it doesn’t matter and I think it does make it even more compelling to the American people when President Trump ultimately gets in place the people he wants. Them dragging it out does nothing but accentuate his ability to win the argument and they’re slipping further and sliding, trying to figure out what their message is. I think they’re a party right now without a cause and identity. They’re trying to figure it out and it seems like they’ve decided the best way they can do that is by dragging some of these nominees out on the floor or fighting them in the committee. But in the end they’re going to win and they know that.”

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2025/02/05/exclusive-senate-majority-leader-john-thune-trump-has-decisive-mandate-senate-moving-as-quickly-as-we-can-to-confirm-entire-cabinet/