Senate Majority Leader John Thune would not say Sunday that he is on board with all of President-elect Donald Trump’s Cabinet picks, but he did say they will get the chance to make their case.
“It’s a process. And what I’ve promised them is a fair process,” Mr. Thune, South Dakota Republican, said on NBC News’ “Meet the Press.” “So these nominees are going to go through a committee where they’re going to have to answer questions. There will be some hard questions posed.”
“We’re going to do everything we can to ensure that he has the people he wants in place,” he said.
Mr. Thune last week took over the role of majority leader of the upper chamber when Congress reconvened for its 119th session after the holiday break.
“I think you give great deference and latitude to a president when it comes to people he wants to put into key positions. And national security ones are especially important,” Mr. Thune said. “But the Senate has a role: advise and consent.”
“We have a lot of our senators who take that role very seriously,” he said, adding that he expects Mr. Trump to “get the people that he wants.”
Mr. Thune didn’t clarify which of Mr. Trump’s picks he has met, but said there are some who he has “been really, really impressed by.”
“As they go through the process, there will be opportunities throughout that where members, senators will have opportunities to make sure they’re getting their questions answered,” he said.
He did say that Kash Patel — Mr. Trump’s pick for FBI director — “understands what his mission would be” if confirmed, without saying if he will vote to confirm him.
Confirmation hearings for Mr. Trump’s picks will start in the coming weeks as the transition from the Biden White House to the Trump White House gets into full swing before Mr. Trump is inaugurated on Jan. 20.
Pete Hegseth, Mr. Trump’s pick for defense secretary, will appear before the Senate Armed Services Committee starting Jan. 14.
When asked about his relationship with Mr. Trump, Mr. Thune said it’s “evolving.”
“We have a relationship I think where we understand what each other wants to accomplish,” the Senate leader said. “And what I’ve said before is that we have — there is an alignment of incentives. We want to get to the same destination.”
• Mallory Wilson can be reached at mwilson@washingtontimes.com.