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WASHINGTON, D C. – U.S. Senator John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) appeared on “Fox News Sunday” this morning to discuss how Congress will not leave until they have a Covid-19 relief bill for the American people. Barrasso also previewed what the confirmation process for Biden’s cabinet nominees will look like in the U.S. Senate.

Below are key excerpts of the interview:

On Getting COVID Relief Bill Done Today:

“This gets done today, no more delays. We're not leaving until we have relief for the American people. People are hurting, people need help and there are two things we need to do to write this final chapter on coronavirus and one is to get people vaccinated. We're doing that now. 20 million people will be vaccinated by New Year’s Eve.

“But we need to provide help for the American public, people who have been struggling, until we get enough people vaccinated that we can fully get the economy back on track. And that means people back to work, getting kids back to school. So direct payment checks to the American people, $600. For people who are watching, if they got a check last time, they will get a check again this time. Adults and children.

On Helping Small Businesses, Unemployed:

“For people who are out of work through no fault of their own, $300 a week for enhanced unemployment going into next year. And for the small businesses and the working families all across America, we were going to do more paycheck protection loans so those small businesses can stay open, so people can get paychecks all the way through. This has been a very successful program. 13,000 small businesses in Wyoming have used this program. It's a little more specific this time in that the business has to be fewer than 300 employees and they actually have to show a loss. But that's the way we get this disease behind us.

On Democrats Delaying a Deal:

“We need to get this done today. The president is right in that this is no fault of the American people. We should have done this months ago had not Nancy Pelosi played politics through the fall because of the presidential election. She has admitted as much. We had a bill pretty comparable to what we are going to pass today and we've offered it by Republicans time and time again. The Democrats beat it down 40 different times. This has been wrong, the delay has been too long. We need to get it done now for Christmas.

On Biden Cabinet Nominees:

“A couple things. It looks like the Biden cabinet would be a third term of the Obama administration. That didn't sit really well in Wyoming. We have a role to advise and consent on these nominees, which is why the election coming up in Georgia is so critical in the control of the Senate. Why I want to make sure that Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue get elected there.

“Because if you want accountability, and not just a rubber-stamp for a Joe Biden cabinet, you need to have people like me as chairman of the Energy Committee. So we will have hearings, ask the tough questions, but we are not going to forget what happened with President Trump's administration and the delayed process that went through it.

On Senate Confirmation Process for Biden Nominees:

“So it's not going to be a garden party if the Republicans are in the majority. These nominees are going to have to run the gauntlet. In terms of specific nominees you ask about, I'm from Wyoming, it's an energy state. Here's my concern. With regards to energy, Joe Biden has repeatedly said he's against exploration for energy, a lot of exporting of energy, so his nominee for the Secretary of Energy has said this. She said, ‘We ought to be doing everything we possibly can to keep fossil fuel energy in the ground.’

“The impact of that on our economy, on jobs, it cuts the throat of my state, our economy, the men and women who work there, the energy that America needs. It's going to drive up costs significantly for American families, so you bet I'm going to ask tough questions.”

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