Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said he supports the entire president’s reprieve Donald Trump’s Cabinet candidates who do not receive unanimous support in the Senate.
Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., filed a statement Tuesday regarding John Ratcliffe’s nomination for CIA director, Kristi Noem’s nomination for Homeland Security secretary and Pete Hegseth’s nomination for defense secretary. But a last-minute objection from Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., held up a vote on Ratcliffe, leading to hours of debate that pushed confirmation votes on Trump’s national security nominees late into the week and possibly into could delay the weekend.
“I don’t think it’s too much to ask to make sure that we have a full, real debate that lasts two days on the Senate floor,” Murphy said on the Senate floor, adding that Democrats have “serious concerns” about the CIA from Trump. choose.
The Senate voted to confirm Ratcliffe, 74-25, on Thursday afternoon.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., speaks at a news conference with other Senate Democrats about reproductive rights in Washington on January 22, 2025. (Nathan Posner/Anadolu via Getty Images)
When asked Thursday whether he supports slowing down the confirmation process for Trump’s nominees, Schumer indicated he does.
“Look, there are some nominees like (Secretary of State Marco) Rubio who received broad support, but a detailed discussion – I have some doubts about Mr. Ratcliffe, especially when I asked him how he would react if Tulsi Gabbard were put in placed in charge of him in the DNI,” Schumer said: referring to Trump’s pick to lead the Office of National Intelligence.
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Donald Trump’s nominee for CIA director, John Ratcliffe, will appear for a Senate intelligence confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill on January 15, 2025. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
“A day or two, or a few hours, to thoroughly vet these nominees who have so much power, absolutely,” he added. “Our idea is to let the whole truth come out when they try to rush them through. We don’t want that to happen.’
Thune spoke out on Tuesday frustration among Democrats about their delaying tactics.
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Republican Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D. (Getty Images)
“Do we want to vote on these people on Tuesday or vote on them on Friday, Saturday and Sunday? Because that’s what we’re going to do. This can be easy, but it can also be difficult,” Thune said. ‘This is about America national security interests, and we’re at a standstill, so that’s not going to happen.”
Ratcliffe was approved by the Senate Intelligence Committee on a bipartisan vote of 14-3. That’s why Thune said the vote to confirm him “shouldn’t be difficult.”
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“Democrats and Republicans agree in a very major, bipartisan way that he is very qualified for this job,” Thune said, adding that he is not sure what a delay will accomplish.
Elizabeth Pritchett of Fox News Digital contributed to this report.
