Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., Thursday on Newsmax said he believes that RFK Jr. was confirmed as Health and Human Services director because of the work Republican leaders have done to put President Donald Trump's team in place.
"I don't think we'd have a vote if we didn't have the votes ready to go," Rounds said on "Wake Up America." "That's one thing that the leadership has been very, very good about is making sure that everything is in place and ready."
He added that in Kennedy's case, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., has made it "very clear that they will work with each member to get us to the point where we're comfortable with our final decision."
Meanwhile, Senate Republicans are moving Trump's nominees through "at a record pace," said Rounds.
"We're getting the job done because we need to make changes in Washington," he added. "The president deserves to have his team, and we're putting those people in place."
And then, work can be done on Trump's agenda, he said.
"Let's cut the size of the federal government and get these bureaucrats back to where they ought to be at the right level," said Rounds. "This is the first time ever that I can remember where we've had a Congress that's had a partner working to reduce the size of the federal government. To have a president who's ready to do that is extremely helpful to us. We want to make sure that we give him the tools that he needs to get the job done."
Meanwhile, only one Republican, Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., voted Wednesday against confirming Tulsi Gabbard as director of national intelligence, and Rounds said that all senators have the opportunity to decide "as long as we're not surprising leadership or creating havoc."
Rounds also discussed the Senate Judiciary Committee's upcoming vote on Thursday about whether to forward Kash Patel for confirmation as FBI director.
Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., the committee's top Democrat, has accused Patel of lying under oath to the committee about his involvement in a recent overhaul of the FBI.
But Rounds said he favors Patel's nomination because of his background and experience.
"He has a background of law enforcement that sometimes he can't talk about," said Rounds, adding that Patel "understands the connection between our national security and what the FBI does."
Rounds said his discussions with Patel pointed out that he understands that the FBI must focus on crime rather than political agendas.
The senator also discussed the upcoming committee hearing for Linda McMahon as secretary of the Department of Education, an agency Trump says he wants to be eliminated.
"Back in 2015, I said that I was in favor of eliminating the Department of Education," said. Rounds.
He added that work has been done over the past year toward moving the department's critical functions, such as special education, to the state level and "getting rid of about $1.3 billion in federal bureaucracy."
Education decisions, he added, belong in the states.
"I think it's great to have somebody in the White House who feels the same way," he said. "We've laid out a platform or a path forward to be able to do that in a very reasonable fashion."
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