Senate forces rare weekend vote to push through Kristi Noem as Homeland Security chief

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., indicated earlier in the week that the Senate would stay over the weekend to push through the confirmation process if Democrats blocked voting efforts.

"Do we want a vote on these folks on Tuesday or vote on them on Friday, Saturday and Sunday? Because that's what we're going to do," Thune said after Democrats blocked a confirmation vote for Trump's CIA director nominee, John Ratcliffe, who has bipartisan support. "This can be easy or this can be hard."  

"This is about America's national security interests, and we're stalling, so that's not going to happen," Thune said.

The Department of Homeland Security deals with national security and immigration issues, making Noem's confirmation top of mind for Trump as he makes the crisis at the southern border a priority during his second term.

Several of Trump's nominees remain unconfirmed after the 47th president's first week in office. But Thune promised while speaking on the Senate floor on Friday that he "will continue to ensure that the Senate works as quickly as possible to get President Trump's team in place."

Fox News' Elizabeth Pritchett contributed to this report.