‘What We Can Accomplish … And What’s Realistic’: Senate Majority Leader Thune Reveals How He’ll Take On Trump Agenda

Senate Majority Leader John Thune outlined his strategy for how he and his Republican colleagues will deliver on promises he and President-elect Donald Trump made during the 2024 campaign during a “Face The Nation” interview which aired Sunday.

Thune, who previously clashed with Trump over refusals to back the president-elect’s claims that the 2020 election was stolen, told host Margaret Brennan he will not be afraid to tell Trump when he thinks he’s wrong. Thune said he will do his best to not only support him, but to also tell him what he thinks is “realistic.”

Will Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) tell President-elect Donald Trump when he thinks he’s wrong?

“I will,” Thune says, “and I think my job is to do everything I can to help him achieve success, be a successful president.” He adds that he’ll help Trump understand… pic.twitter.com/WZknacowb1

— Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) January 5, 2025

The former Senate GOP whip echoed his House colleague, Speaker Mike Johnson, in outlining the issues over which Republicans are united. Those issues, he told Brennan, were border security, military funding, economic recovery and energy dominance. 

“We think that a generational investment in the border is necessary given where we are after the last four years of what I think is a very failed Biden-Harris border policy. I think there isn’t anybody who wouldn’t objectively agree with that.”

Thune also outlined plans to dramatically increase military funding, blasting the Biden-Harris administration for a series of military budget increases that didn’t even keep up with inflation. 

“We have the defense commission strategy group that comes out with a report all the time and tells us [our military] is dramatically underfunded in relation to China,” he said. 

Thune praised Vice President-elect JD Vance as “somebody who can help the administration as they work through these issues, figure out what’s realistic … what’s achievable, what we can accomplish here in the Senate because he’s been here, he knows it’s challenging.”

Thune also spoke about the Senate confirmation process ahead of each of Trump’s cabinet secretary picks, vowing to ensure a fair process for the nominees.

“We’ll ensure that they get a confirmation hearing, an opportunity to make their case, answer the hard questions that are inevitably going to come and perform the role that the Senate has.”

The Senate Republican leader also affirmed Trump — like all presidents — has a right to make his own picks.

Thune signaled cautious optimism that a lot of the picks would get through, but added, “We’ll see about all of them … remains to be seen.”

“In most cases at least, most of our Republican senators are inclined to give the president the people he wants in these positions.”

Thune expressed support for FBI background checks on the nominees, a topic which worried lawmakers. Trump’s transition team was initially hesitant to sign an agreement allowing the background checks, though they did eventually assent. 

Brennan then broached the topic of recess appointments, the process of appointing cabinet secretaries during a congressional recess to bypass the typical confirmation process. 

While Thune didn’t expressly reject or deny the proposition of recess appointments, he did allude to their necessity due to potential Democratic obstructionism. (RELATED: Seven GOP Senators Most Likely To Stand Between Trump And His Dream Cabinet)

“I don’t think the Democrats are gonna give us any votes. I mean I hope they do. I think they will on some nominees,” he said. “There’s a whole bunch of nominees, some of whom will have more Democrat support than others, but I think in the end the Democrat leadership in most cases is probably not gonna be largely supportive of some of the President’s picks, with maybe a few exceptions.”

Thune added that with a 53-47 Republican majority in the Senate, it’s less important that Democrats vote for Trump’s nominees than that they don’t drag the process out.

He noted that during former President Barack Obama’s first term, his first 12 nominees were confirmed within 15 days, whereas Trump’s first 12 nominees took 42 days. President Joe Biden’s nominees took 50 days to be approved. 

“We’re moving in the wrong direction when it comes to giving a president the opportunity to get their people in place as quickly as possible,” he said. 

On policy, Thune touted a “generational” border security bill, which he explained will be passed through budget reconciliation, a playbook he claimed Republicans are simply taking from Democrats. 

“The Democrats provided a template in the last couple of years for how to expand the scope of what’s available to get done through the reconciliation process. It’s the only process in the Senate that enables you to enact legislation with a 51-vote threshold as opposed to 60,” he said. 

Thune, as Brennan noted to him during the interview, criticized Democrats for using the reconciliation process to pass a $2 trillion COVID bill. (RELATED: Partisan Pro-Union Bill Wedged Into Democrats’ Reconciliation Deal)

He also noted there will be legislative opportunities — such as an upcoming farm bill — for both parties to pass more traditional 60-vote threshold bills. 

As Thune concluded, he reaffirmed Johnson’s assurances that, while the Senate would be looking to pass a tax cut, it would not come without requisite spending cuts.

“There will be spending cuts, there’s no question about it,” he said.