Senate Majority Leader Thune threatens Dems over Trump nominees: Doing this 'the hard way'

Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) had a warning for Democrats he contends are delaying confirmations for President Donald Trump's cabinet nominees: "We can do this the easy way or the hard way."

Thune echoed on social media what he said Tuesday evening on the Senate floor after John Ratcliffe's confirmation for CIA director was blocked.

Ratcliffe had been approved by the Senate Intelligence Committee in a bipartisan vote, and Thune indicated that getting him confirmed "shouldn't be hard."

"Democrats and Republicans, in a very big bipartisan fashion, agree that he is very qualified for this job," Thune said. "Do we want a 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. "This is about America's national security interests, and we're stalling, so that's not going to happen."

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Ratcliffe's confirmation was blocked by Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT), who said Democrats had "serious concerns" about the nomination because Ratcliffe "repeatedly politicized intelligence" when he briefly served as National Intelligence director in 2020. Murphy added, "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."

Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AK) also claimed the Democrats were gunning for getting things done "the hard way."

"We should especially get back to that practice when it is a highly accomplished, well-qualified nominee of integrity, like John Ratcliffe," Cotton said. "Now we're going to spin our wheels for two days. But, as I said, don't make plans for the weekend. Don't have any dinner dates scheduled starting on Thursday night because we're going to get these nominees done the easy, collegial way. Or apparently the hard way."

Only one of President Trump's nominees has been confirmed thus far: former Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) was voted in unanimously on Monday as the new Secretary of State.