The second-ranking Republican in the U.S. Senate, Majority Whip John Barrasso of Wyoming, said the chamber will stay in session as long as it takes to confirm President Donald Trump’s Cabinet picks that Democrats are bottling up.
“I hope my Democrat colleagues don’t have plans for the weekend,” Barrasso said on the Senate floor Wednesday. “Because I guarantee you the Senate’s going to be here in Washington voting to confirm President Trump’s nominees.”
Pete Hegseth, Kristi Noem and John Ratcliffe have all been approved at the committee level to lead the Department of Defense, Department of Homeland Security and the CIA, respectively. But in the full Senate, Democrats are using procedural maneuvers to stall the trio.
Senate rules require up to 30 hours of debate on each nominee for top-level posts including these — unless the parties agree on a shorter length of time.
No such agreement is in place, and Democrats began drawing out debate Tuesday on Hegseth, Noem and Ratcliffe after Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-South Dakota, called for an end of the debate, aiming to speed up the process.
In Wednesday’s floor proceedings, Barrasso said he met with Trump at the White House the day before, “and I assured President Trump that Republicans in the Senate are committed to working around the clock to confirm his nominees.”
“We’re prepared to work late into the night and long weekends if Democrats choose to deliberately delay the votes on his Cabinet as it appears they are doing right now,” he added.
Sen. Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyoming, also said she’s willing to support Barrasso’s promise to keep everyone there.
"If Democrats want to drag their feet on cabinet nominations, I have no problem cracking open a Celsius and staying here all weekend to get it done,” she posted to X. “The American people gave us a mandate, and it's our job to deliver."
‘Shameful’
In the applicable committees, Hegseth squeaked by on a party-line vote of 14-13 while Noem and Ratcliffe sailed through on tallies of 13-2 and 14-3, respectively.
Barrasso first noted the bipartisan vote for Ratcliffe by the Senate Intelligence Committee, suggesting the nominee’s path to full confirmation should be a smooth one.
“But last night here in this body, Democrats chose last-minute obstruction,” Barrasso said. “They’re just gonna slow it down anyway. … What they are doing is shameful.”
Barrasso then noted the bipartisan support for Noem and some other nominees, though he did not mention Hegseth.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-New York, noted Democrats allowed a swift vote to confirm Marco Rubio to lead the State Department. But Schumer, speaking on the floor Wednesday, questioned the qualifications of other picks.
“Sadly, too many of the president’s nominees do not match Senator Rubio’s caliber,” Schumer said. “Too many have troubling backgrounds. Too many seem unprepared for the job, and proved so during testimony. … It’s wrong to try to rush them through.”
It's Inevitable
If the Democrats maintain their posture, there is nothing Republicans can do except what Barrasso is promising — keep the Senate in session night and day and over the weekend in order to keep the clock running on the Democrats' time for debate.
Though Republicans cannot speed up the clock, they do not need Democrats’ help on any votes. On nominations, all votes require a simple majority, 51, rather than a filibuster-proof 60, and the GOP holds 53 seats in the Senate.
Barrasso and Lummis were hardly the only Republicans upset with Democrats for not allowing quick votes on all the nominees.
"We wasted a whole day when we could have acted on [Ratcliffe's] nomination," said Thune, the GOP Senate leader, noting the bipartisan vote in committee.
Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Arkansas, said the nominees would be confirmed "the easy way or the hard way."
"We tried to cooperate with the Democrats," he said. "The cooperation has not been forthcoming, so I guess it’s going to be the hard way. Starting on Thursday."
Cotton said the order that the nominees would be taken up is Ratcliffe first, Hegseth next and then Noem.
On Thursday, committees are due to vote on Trump’s choices to lead the Interior and Energy departments as well as the EPA, and a committee hearing is on tap for Trump’s pick to lead the Agriculture Department.
