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John Thune

Thune threatens weekend votes as Dems stall Trump Cabinet picks

Senate Majority Leader John Thune is promising to keep the Senate in session through the weekend after Democrats blocked a quick vote on John Ratcliffe’s CIA director nomination and threw up new procedural hurdles for Pentagon nominee Pete Hegseth.

Thune has long promised to play hardball if Democrats try to slow-walk President Donald Trump’s Cabinet picks. But the usually mild-mannered South Dakota Republican was visibly angry on Tuesday after Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) blocked a quick vote on Ratcliffe, noting that the Intelligence Committee approved his nomination 14-3.

“Do we want to vote on these folks on Tuesday or vote on them on Friday, Saturday and Sunday? Because that’s what we’re going to do. This can be easy or this can be hard,” Thune said. “Everything we’re doing right now is just stalling. I don’t know what that accomplishes for you.”

Long slog: Tuesday’s proceedings were a preview of how difficult it will be for GOP leaders to expeditiously confirm the rest of Trump’s national security nominees.

Democrats are looking to make it as painful as possible for Republicans to confirm Hegseth, especially after reviewing an affidavit from Hegseth’s former sister-in-law detailing allegations of alcohol abuse and intimidation. Hegseth and his ex-wife deny the claims.

On Tuesday, Democrats forced roll-call votes on procedural motions that are normally voice-voted to allow the majority leader to tee up a nomination. Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) said he wasn’t surprised since Republicans used a similar tactic last month when Democrats were still in the majority.

“We did this to them… and stopped them from getting judges. And this is their retribution for that,” Rounds told us. “We knew it would cost us some time in the new year… We’ve just got to hammer it out.”

Democrats’ delay tactics could prompt Trump to push more aggressively for recess appointments, something the president mentioned during his Tuesday meeting with Thune and Speaker Mike Johnson.

“I think we’re going to find out here fairly quickly whether or not the Democrats want to help us get through some of these nominations,” Thune said when asked about recess appointments.

Senate GOP leaders tried to clinch an agreement to vote on Ratcliffe Tuesday and then tried for a Wednesday vote. But Murphy’s objection means Ratcliffe won’t get an initial vote until Thursday. And it means the Senate won’t begin voting on Hegseth until the end of the week. If Thune follows through on his threat and Democrats don’t relent, the Senate will be in session and voting this weekend.

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