Thune Joins Fox News Following Leadership Election

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WASHINGTON - U.S. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) last night joined Bret Baier on Fox News for an exclusive interview after being elected by his colleagues to serve as majority leader in the 119th Congress.

On President Trump's nominees:

"Well, I mean, these are exciting times, obviously, right? The president got a big mandate.

"The American people want change in this country. They're tired of the Biden-Harris-Schumer agenda, and they want President Trump to fix some things. And he wants to get a team in place that can do that, and we're going to work with him to see that he gets his team installed as quickly as possible so he can implement his agenda.

"All these people have a process that they have to go through. All these nominees are - it's, you know, advise and consent. That's the Senate's constitutional role when it comes to confirmation of nominations to the executive branch of the government.

"And we take that role seriously, but we also are not going to allow the Democrats to obstruct or block President Trump and the will of the American people."

On government efficiency:

"Well, I think this is long overdue, honestly. And frankly, I'm excited, because, you know, there is a very low percentage of federal workers who are actually back at work."

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"And frankly, for that matter, why do we have all these agencies and departments here in Washington, D.C.? They could be other places around the country, because people aren't showing up at the office anyway.

"So I think there's a, you know, there's a real opportunity here, some of which can be done through the president's executive actions, some of which may need to go through the Congress, again, which means you've got in the Senate, that's not easy, you've got to have some Democrats.

"But I think people in this country are ready, they are hungry, for a leaner, more effective, more efficient federal government that distributes power out of Washington, gets the control out of here and back in the hands of the American people."

On if he expects Democrats to work with Republicans:

"I would hope so. I would think that the election results were an incredible repudiation of where they've been taking the country. And so it strikes me, at least, that Democrats, particularly if they have to run in 2026, might be inclined to help us on some of these issues. I think there's - that's a possibility. I always hope that's the case. We'll find out soon enough."

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