In case you missed it — Senator Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) joined Dana Perino on “America’s Newsroom” today to discuss the confirmation of President Trump’s cabinet nominee’s, potential ICC sanctions, and the ongoing senate race in Pennsylvania.

In part, Senator Cotton said:

“The new Senate will be sworn in on January 3, which is 17 days before the President’s inauguration on January 20th. We can have many of the confirmation hearings during that 17-day period. Then, on January 20th, shortly after the President gives his inaugural address, he’ll sign the formal papers to nominate people for Cabinet positions. The Senate should start working right away, promptly processing those nominees. I can tell you, Dana, you don’t want to see my dance moves at the inaugural ball. You don’t want to see many other senators' dance moves either. We should be working that day to confirm those nominees, and that’s what we should keep doing after the President is inaugurated."

Senator Cotton’s full interview may be found here and below.

Dana Perino: This Arkansas Senator, Tom Cotton, is the incoming Republican Conference Chairman. First of all, congratulations to you on that, Senator. There are three topics to cover today, and no one better to address all three in the time we have here. Let's start with Speaker Johnson’s comments on Fox News Sunday about recess appointments. Watch this.

Speaker Johnson (on Fox News Sunday): "I wish the Senate would simply do its job of advice and consent and allow the President to put the people in his Cabinet of his choosing. But if this thing bogs down, it would be a great detriment to the country. I am very hopeful—very hopeful—that the Senate will do its job, and that is, provide its advice and consent and move these nominees along. They have an obligation to vet every nominee, and they will."

Dana Perino: "I’ve been wondering, with the numbers that Republicans will have in the Senate, why does everyone keep talking about recess appointments? Shouldn’t it be pretty easy to get everyone confirmed?"

Senator Cotton: "Well, that’s exactly right, Dana. Once again, the left doesn’t seem to have learned anything from the last eight years of hyperventilating about a supposedly anti-constitutional practice that’s actually in the Constitution itself. Recess appointments go all the way back to the founding of our republic. But I don’t foresee a need for recess appointments, because I expect the Senate to work promptly and efficiently to process all of these nominations and get the President’s Cabinet in place. The new Senate will be sworn in on January 3, which is 17 days before the President’s inauguration on January 20th. We can have many of the confirmation hearings during that 17-day period. Then, on January 20th, shortly after the President gives his inaugural address, he’ll sign the formal papers to nominate people for Cabinet positions. The Senate should start working right away, promptly processing those nominees. I can tell you, Dana, you don’t want to see my dance moves at the inaugural ball. You don’t want to see many other senators' dance moves either. We should be working that day to confirm those nominees, and that’s what we should keep doing after the President is inaugurated."

Dana Perino: "It’s always freezing on Inauguration Day anyway. Alright, I know you support Senator John Thune, the new Majority Leader for the Republicans, in his push to deal with the International Criminal Court (ICC) and its potential targeting of Israelis. He said this: 'If the ICC and its prosecutor do not reverse their outrageous and unlawful actions to pursue arrest warrants against Israeli officials, the Senate should immediately pass sanctions legislation, as the House has done on a bipartisan basis.' What’s your take on this? Why is this important, and should it be done right away?"

Senator Cotton: "Dana, absolutely. It’s not just Senator Thune and I—this is probably the position of most Republicans and even a lot of Democrats. As you said, the House passed this bill months ago with more than 40 Democratic votes. The International Criminal Court is targeting Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Netanyahu, for supposed war crimes, when in fact Israel is the victim of war crimes. This bill, that I helped draft, is based on an executive order issued by President Trump. It passed with strong bipartisan support. Chuck Schumer could bring it up for a vote any time—he could bring it up this week. It would be a much better use of time than, say, confirming the head of the Office of Government Ethics, which we spent hours on last week. The ICC, which is acting in a rogue fashion, could issue these arrest warrants at any time. We shouldn’t allow that to go forward without severe consequences against this rogue court and its rogue leader."

Dana Perino: "And there’s this. We just did a story with Alexis McAdams at the end of the last hour about Dave McCormick, the Republican Senate candidate in Pennsylvania. The race has been called for him, but Bob Casey continues to push forward, and there seems to be some confusion—and possible illegal activity—on the part of Pennsylvania county officials. This comes after Democrats rejected a GOP-led challenge. One official was quoted saying, 'I think we all know that precedent by a court doesn’t matter anymore in this country. If I violate this law, it’s because I want a court to pay attention. There’s nothing more important than counting votes.' What’s happening in Pennsylvania, and what can Republicans do to bring this race to a close for the party?"

Senator Cotton: "Well, Dana, it’s crazy. Once again, Democrats are doing exactly what they accused Donald Trump of doing—defying a court order. Trump never did that during his first term. But now, you have the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ordering county officials not to count certain improper, incomplete ballots, and Democratic officials are simply saying, 'We’re going to disregard the court order and count these ballots anyway.' The Department of Justice should investigate these Democrats immediately. If Joe Biden’s DOJ won’t do it—because they’re more focused on getting illegal votes in Virginia—then I bet a future Trump DOJ would investigate it. You cannot allow partisan election officials to ignore a court order. The time has come to bring this race to a close and allow Senator-elect Dave McCormick to move forward and represent the people of Pennsylvania."

Dana Perino: "Tom Cotton, we appreciate you joining us today."

Senator Cotton: "Thank you, Dana."