WASHINGTON —When Donald Trump announced his cabinet picks at the beginning of the year, there were more than a few skeptics who doubted the president would ever get his nominees confirmed. Trump&#8217;s list featured controversial names like Pete Hegseth, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and Tulsi Gabbard. Even some of his staunchest supporters figured they wouldn&#8217;t all make it.
One hundred days into the administration, however, every member of Trump&#8217;s cabinet has been confirmed, save his nominee for ambassador to the United Nations. How was this accomplished? Senate Majority Leader John Thune.
&#8220;We confirmed his cabinet at the fastest rate in 20 years,&#8221; Thune explained to The Daily Wire in a sit-down interview. &#8220;We kept the Senate in session for 10 consecutive weeks for the first time in 15 years, and we hit 200 votes in the Senate for the first time at this point, going back to the Reagan administration.&#8221; 
&#8220;We&#8217;re doing the work,&#8221; he emphasized. &#8220;There&#8217;s a lot more to do. And obviously, making sure that all those key positions are filled in the administration is a big part of that. But then we&#8217;ve gotta start delivering on the legislative agenda, and that&#8217;s where you get into energy independence. It&#8217;s where you get into rebuilding the military, securing the border, providing tax relief for the American people, and reducing spending, and getting our country on a more sustainable fiscal path. Those are the things that the president campaigned on, and we need to deliver on for the American people.&#8221; 
Asked who, or what, presented the biggest hurdle to getting the president&#8217;s nominees confirmed, Thune laughed.
&#8220;Well, you know, it depended on the nominee,&#8221; he said. &#8220;We had different issues and individuals that we were working with&#8230;We just had to make sure, we have 53 Republicans, we had to have at least 50 of them, and then with Vice President Vance in the chair, we can get to 51. And we had that circumstance a couple of times, at least, on a couple of the nominees. But each one was slightly different, and [had] different things that they were responding to.&#8221;
Each nominee had to contend with a variety of questions during the confirmation hearings. Hegseth faced an avalanche of media attacks on his personal life, from allegations of sexual impropriety and accusations of heavy drinking — which he denied — to scrutiny over his tattoos. Kennedy faced criticism of his stances on vaccinations, and Gabbard was attacked for her stances on foreign policy and more.
&#8220;But at the end of the day,&#8221; Thune said, &#8220;we got &#8217;em all in.&#8221; 
The Senate majority leader argued, like many of the president&#8217;s top supporters, that the voters who elected Trump also effectively chose his cabinet. The messaging from the White House has been clear: to buck the president&#8217;s nominees was to buck the will of the American people. On top of that, top Trump supporters warned wavering Republicans that their seats would be in danger if they fought the president&#8217;s cabinet choices.
In December, as the incoming Trump administration geared up for inauguration and their fight for the cabinet nominees, Trump confidant Charlie Kirk said the party should make lawmakers who get in the way of the Trump agenda pay the price, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/charlie-kirk-has-thoughts-on-which-republicans-need-a-primary-challenge">telling The Daily Wire with a grin</a>:  “It’s gonna be primary season sometime soon.&#8221;
From his Senate office on Capitol Hill this week, Thune suggested that Trump&#8217;s decisive victory in November was even more reason for Republicans to get on board with the president&#8217;s agenda. That was, in part, why he fought to get the nominees through so quickly — <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/articles/the-first-100-days-of-confirmations-in-the-second-trump-administration/">research by the Brookings Institution</a> found that Trump&#8217;s nominees were confirmed at a pace that surpassed three of the past four administrations.
&#8220;I think it&#8217;s important in any administration when a president wins an election, especially as decisively as President Trump won this last election in November, they deserve a lot of deference when it comes to the people that they want in those various agencies and departments and delivering on his agenda,&#8221; Thune said. &#8220;So we work to get &#8217;em all through and, knock on wood, so far been very successful with that. We got a long ways to go.&#8221; 
Vice President JD Vance was also a key player in the fight for Trump&#8217;s cabinet, Thune shared, describing how the vice president was deployed to speak with wary senators and bring them into the fold.
&#8220;The vice president was great,&#8221; the Senate majority leader said. &#8220;Several times we had strategies on each of these people that some of our senators needed to hear from, and Vice President Vance was very helpful in making calls.&#8221; 
Vance, who previously served as a senator from Ohio,  &#8220;developed a high level of trust and confidence with Republican senators,&#8221; Thune said.
The vice president has been credited with persuading Republicans Todd Young of Indiana and Bill Cassidy of Louisiana to support Gabbard and Kennedy, respectively.
Cassidy <a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/5133547-vance-senate-trump-nominees/">described</a> Vance as an “honest broker” after their interactions, and Young told reporters of the vice president: &#8220;He listened a lot more than he talked, and he, frankly, seemed to be effective on his end in getting from me the concessions that were required to get to a ‘yes.'&#8221;
“He came through,&#8221; added Young. &#8220;He delivered for me, and I’m grateful for that, and that’s why he was able, in the end, to deliver for the president.”
Vance&#8217;s time in the Senate helped him in this effort, Thune reflected.
&#8220;He had been here and knew a lot of &#8217;em to start with, which was an advantage,&#8221; the majority leader said. &#8220;But I also think that he was very committed to helping the president get these folks confirmed and was willing to do whatever we needed him to do,&#8221; he added. &#8220;There were a number of times where we had him engaging in conversations/ We had other senators talking to senators.&#8221;
At the end of the day, however, it was Trump who was the most influential player in getting &#8220;folks to support and vote for his agenda,&#8221; Thune said.
&#8220;It was a team effort,&#8221; Thune said, &#8220;and we&#8217;re all kind of part of that team.&#8221;
&#8220;I think that the President&#8217;s agenda is the one the American people wants to see accomplished,&#8221; he told The Daily Wire. &#8220;They want us to be good partners with him. And I think in the end, if we can succeed on the things the president campaigned on, the American people voted for, they&#8217;re going to want to continue to see Republicans in majorities in the House and the Senate and a Republican in the White House.&#8221;

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How The Senate Got Trump’s Entire Cabinet Confirmed In 100 Days

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How The Senate Got Trump’s Entire Cabinet Confirmed In 100 Days