Senate Democrats who are considering holding up the confirmations of President Donald Trump’s cabinet appointments might want to rethink that course of action. The president recently threatened to adjourn Congress so he can make recess appointments for some of his nominees.
This move would be unprecedented and would likely meet with a chorus of wailing and gnashing of teeth from the left. However, it appears Trump is willing to make this gambit, according to CBS News.
President Trump is threatening to use his powers to adjourn Congress so he can make recess appointments for at least some of his top Cabinet nominees and their deputies, enabling them to begin running the largest federal departments.
Trump most recently raised the prospect of plunging the executive and legislative branches into uncharted constitutional territory during his White House meeting Tuesday with Senate Majority Leader John Thune and House Speaker Mike Johnson, mulling the option if Democrats opt to slow-walk or delay his top national security and public health nominees, according to two people familiar with the meetings.
"This remains a significant possibility in the eyes of the White House," one of the people familiar with the meetings said, emphasizing this is not expected to happen this week, but remains under active consideration.
The president has been eager to get the members of his cabinet confirmed. So far, Secretary of State Marco Rubio has been the only official confirmed. The Senate is still set to vote on Pete Hegseth for Defense Secretary, Kristi Noem for Homeland Security, and John Ratcliffe for CIA Director. Democrats have been slow-walking the process for Ratcliffe and could do the same for the other two nominees, according to CBS News.
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There are questions as to whether Trump has the authority to adjourn Congress.
The second clause of Article II, Section 3 of the Constitution gives the president the power to convene the House and Senate in certain cases. While presidents over the course of U.S. history have frequently summoned both chambers for special sessions, or the Senate to vote on key nominees or treaties, no president has ever exercised his constitutional power to adjourn the two chambers.
The lack of precedent means any Trump decision to adjourn the Senate would likely face immediate legal challenge ultimately resulting in appeals to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Here's one example of how it would work: The House is scheduled to leave Washington for up to 10 days starting Friday, so the two parties can hold their annual policy retreats. The GOP-controlled House could pass a resolution formally adjourning for that length of time and send the resolution to the Senate. The upper chamber, where at least 60 votes would be needed to consider a consent resolution, would either also adjourn or fail to agree to do so. Under the Constitution, both houses of Congress must agree to adjourn for more than three days. If the Senate does not agree, the president could try using his adjournment power to send the Senate home, launching the executive and legislative branches into uncharted constitutional territory.
Recess appointments are a provision in the U.S. Constitution allowing the president to fill vacant positions in government offices without Senate approval during times when the upper chamber is in recess. Article II, Section 2 says the president can “fill up all Vacancies that may happen during the Recess of the Senate, by granting Commissions which shall expire at the End of their next Session.”
However, when the Senate reconvenes, the cabinet members must be re-nominated and confirmed to make their positions permanent.
Naturally, if Trump attempted this move, it would almost certainly be challenged in court. As the CBS News report said, this is uncharted territory. Still, it could give Trump some time to advance his agenda while his picks are temporarily in place.
Of course, it is also possible that the president is using the threat of recess appointments to cow Democrats into confirming his nominees instead of playing games with the process. Either way, it seems clear that Trump’s first showdown in his second term is on the horizon.
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