The GOP-led Senate is ahead of the “Obama standard” when it comes to confirming President Donald Trump‘s Cabinet nominees, Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) said on Sunday.

During an interview on “Sunday Morning Futures” nearly a week into Trump’s second term, Fox News anchor Maria Bartiromo pressed Thune about the confirmation process, which Democrats have prevented from being conducted in a more speedy manner by forcing procedural votes and employing other delay tactics.

“Why haven’t we seen more confirmations sooner? It certainly feels like the 53 Senate majority Republicans are allowing the 47 Senate minority Democrats to confirm the confirmation hearing process. Is that right?” Bartiromo asked, incorporating the 45 Senate Democrats with the pair of independents who caucus with them.

“Well, actually, we’re ahead of schedule. We’re going back to what is the Obama standard,” Thune replied, adding that former president Barack Obama “got 12 of his Cabinet nominees through in 15 days. It took Trump 43 days to get his first 12 through back in 2017” for his first term.

“So we are pushing hard. And, obviously, there are constraints that are imposed by the rules of the Senate. The minority in the Senate has ways that can slow things down and drag it out,” Thune said.

“But we’re actually, at the current point, ahead of the Obama standard,” the majority leader continued. “And so we’re going to keep moving aggressively, moving quickly, forcing people to stay and to take votes on weekends, which we did this weekend.”

He added: “We will get them in place as quickly as we possibly can. But we are on the schedule that we laid out and one that I think enables these folks to get through the process in time to deliver for the president and for the American people.”

The Senate has so far confirmed Marco Rubio to be U.S. Secretary of State, John Ratcliffe to be CIA director, Pete Hegseth to be defense secretary, and — in a vote on Saturday — Kristi Noem to be homeland security secretary.

Scott Bessent, Trump’s treasury secretary nominee; and Sean Duffy, the nominee to become transportation secretary are expected to get confirmation votes in the coming days.

Thune said that installing “new leadership” at federal agencies and departments are needed to implement Trump’s second term agenda.

“Of course, we’re starting with the national security positions, which are critically important with everything that’s going on in the world and everything that’s going on at our southern border, which is why it was important that we get Governor Noem in at DHS,” Thune said.

“But, as we move forward, we have got Treasury, Bessent coming up, Sean Duffy at DOT, a whole bunch more that we’re queuing up, teeing up to get done. And it’s just really important that they get in place, Maria, because you have a window of time. This doesn’t come along all that often and sometimes doesn’t last that long,” he added.

Thune concluded: “And so we want to make sure the president has his team in place so he’s able to deliver on the agenda that he talked with the American people about and that they voted for in November.”

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​[[{“value”:”

The GOP-led Senate is ahead of the “Obama standard” when it comes to confirming President Donald Trump‘s Cabinet nominees, Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) said on Sunday.

During an interview on “Sunday Morning Futures” nearly a week into Trump’s second term, Fox News anchor Maria Bartiromo pressed Thune about the confirmation process, which Democrats have prevented from being conducted in a more speedy manner by forcing procedural votes and employing other delay tactics.

“Why haven’t we seen more confirmations sooner? It certainly feels like the 53 Senate majority Republicans are allowing the 47 Senate minority Democrats to confirm the confirmation hearing process. Is that right?” Bartiromo asked, incorporating the 45 Senate Democrats with the pair of independents who caucus with them.

“Well, actually, we’re ahead of schedule. We’re going back to what is the Obama standard,” Thune replied, adding that former president Barack Obama “got 12 of his Cabinet nominees through in 15 days. It took Trump 43 days to get his first 12 through back in 2017” for his first term.

“So we are pushing hard. And, obviously, there are constraints that are imposed by the rules of the Senate. The minority in the Senate has ways that can slow things down and drag it out,” Thune said.

“But we’re actually, at the current point, ahead of the Obama standard,” the majority leader continued. “And so we’re going to keep moving aggressively, moving quickly, forcing people to stay and to take votes on weekends, which we did this weekend.”

He added: “We will get them in place as quickly as we possibly can. But we are on the schedule that we laid out and one that I think enables these folks to get through the process in time to deliver for the president and for the American people.”

The Senate has so far confirmed Marco Rubio to be U.S. Secretary of State, John Ratcliffe to be CIA director, Pete Hegseth to be defense secretary, and — in a vote on Saturday — Kristi Noem to be homeland security secretary.

Scott Bessent, Trump’s treasury secretary nominee; and Sean Duffy, the nominee to become transportation secretary are expected to get confirmation votes in the coming days.

Thune said that installing “new leadership” at federal agencies and departments are needed to implement Trump’s second term agenda.

“Of course, we’re starting with the national security positions, which are critically important with everything that’s going on in the world and everything that’s going on at our southern border, which is why it was important that we get Governor Noem in at DHS,” Thune said.

“But, as we move forward, we have got Treasury, Bessent coming up, Sean Duffy at DOT, a whole bunch more that we’re queuing up, teeing up to get done. And it’s just really important that they get in place, Maria, because you have a window of time. This doesn’t come along all that often and sometimes doesn’t last that long,” he added.

Thune concluded: “And so we want to make sure the president has his team in place so he’s able to deliver on the agenda that he talked with the American people about and that they voted for in November.”

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