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

Trump announced his cabinet positions this week, including Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as Secretary of Health and Human Services, former Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz as Attorney General, and Florida Republican Senator 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 aren’t right for their positions.

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

“Advice and consent should mean something,” he continued. “It’s certainly not about turning around and giving any administration — Democrat or Republican — what it wants.”

Jeffries added that he will not intervene on every nomination or event as it happens, such as controversial social media posts, because it would distract him from working for the American people.

“Are some of these nominations a real path to solving problems for ordinary Americans?” he asked: “That’s the question I’ve faced, the American people are facing, and the answer should be clear.”

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