Vice President JD Vance gave candid counsel to Republican senators thinking about voting against President Donald Trump’s choices to oversee critical three-letter agencies: “You don’t get to make these decisions.”
Vance spoke with HeadlinesForever presenter Sean Hannity on Wednesday from the nation’s capitol, a day before the Senate confirmed FBI director candidate Kash Patel and DNI director nominee Tulsi Gabbard.
Gabbard, Patel, and Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. (RFK), Trump’s nomination to run the United States Department of Health and Human Services, are among the administration’s most contentious nominees, who may face confirmation challenges.
Vance believes the trio will eventually pass the process, but Republicans will “have to fight for each one.”
He applauded Senate Republicans for being “freethinking and independent,” but noted that the commander-in-chief gets to choose who serves in his Cabinet.
“…The president has made his selections and the advice and consent power of the United States Senate should not be used to block people because you have one policy disagreement on one issue,” Vance said on Thursday’s Hannity. “You do not get to make these judgments. President Trump has the authority to make these judgments, and he has done so already.
The former Ohio senator urged his fellow Republicans to consider Trump’s 2024 alliance, wondering whether they could have won in November without the inclusion of Gabbard and RFK, Jr.
“Donald Trump earned an overpowering mandate by convincing a different set of individuals to vote Republican than had previously voted Republican. We must also win over those segments of the coalition. So, yeah, the administration includes many typical Republicans. The government includes several conventional national security hawks. But we’ve also got some new faces, folks who bring a different viewpoint,” Vance added.
As of Thursday, Trump had confirmed eight Cabinet members: Secretary of State Marco Rubio, CIA Director John Ratcliffe, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin, and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum.