Jeffries urges Senate GOP to serve as a 'check and balance' on Trump cabinet picks

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries on Friday urged Republicans in the Senate to act independently of President-elect Donald Trump when reviewing and confirming his cabinet nominations.

Trump has been announcing his cabinet positions this week, including Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as Health and Human Services Secretary, former Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz as Attorney General, and Florida GOP Sen. Marco Rubio as Secretary of State. Although the former president has announced his nominations, they still need to be confirmed by the Senate.

Jeffries declined to weigh in on specific nominations but said some picks are unfit for their posts.

“The Senate has a job,” Jeffries said during a press briefing. “They should focus — meaning the Senate Republicans — on being a separate and co-equal branch of government and serving as a check and balance on a particularly out-of-control, when it emerges, administration. That’s their job.

“Advice and consent should mean something,” he continued. “It certainly doesn’t mean rolling over and giving any administration — Democratic or Republican — what they want.”

Jeffries added that he would not weigh in on each nomination or event as it occurs, such as controversial posts on social media, because it would distract him from working for the American people.

"Are some of these nominations a real path forward to solving problems for everyday Americans?” he asked. “That’s the question that I’ve been grappling with, that the American people are grappling with. And the answer should be clear.”

Misty Severi is an evening news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.