Sen. John Kennedy: Republicans will work Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Thanksgiving to confirm Trump's nominees, then push reconciliation

Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) went to the Senate floor Wednesday and said Republicans are ready to work every day until the end of the year, holidays included, to confirm President Trump's nominees before Democrats take control of Congress in January. The clip was shared by @EricLDaugh on X.

"We have a lot of nominations, presidential appointments and judicial appointments that we have to address the remainder of this Congress," Kennedy said. "If we don't confirm these people, my Democratic friends will not, I can assure you."

He said he and his colleagues are committed to spending "whatever time it takes between now and the end of the year, including Christmas Day, including Christmas Eve, and including Thanksgiving."

Kennedy said confirmations alone are "not enough." He noted that Democrats will be in charge in January and "can just wait" out any Republican proposal. Because of that, he said, Republicans have to act through budget reconciliation, which needs only a simple majority. "I concede that the confirmations should come first," he said. "I don't concede, unlike some of my colleagues, that attempting reconciliation would be a waste of time."

Senate Republicans have about 54 days left in the majority.