Tipsheet

Did the GOP Senate Leader Say Recess Appointments Are on the Table for Matt Gaetz?

Matt Vespa
Matt Vespa  |  November 15, 2024 6:50 AM

Time will tell, but it’s interesting to see that newly minted Republican Senate leader John Thune (R-SD) pretty much say that all options are on the table regarding the nomination of former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) as attorney general. The nomination dropped a bomb on Washington, as everyone within the political class’ circles was freaking out. The panic was palpable in DC, but also the foreknowledge that this would be a nasty confirmation fight that President-elect Donald J. Trump could lose. Gaetz isn’t precisely what you’d call a smooth confirmation, not one bit.

If we ever get to the hearings, and that’s a big “if,” given the obstacles ahead, then it will a) make for some of the best television in years regarding a cabinet post nomination and b) be downright dirty. There’s also the question about whether Gaetz has the votes. He doesn’t (right now), with reports showing as many as 30 "no" votes among Republican senators. Trump is playing with fire a bit—losing a nomination like this is a body blow. 

Yet, Mr. Thune seemed open to recess appointments should things hit rocky shoals. We’ll see if that holds—I wouldn’t bet the mortgage on it. But there is what is described as a “bonkers” plan to get Gaetz into his position without the Senate formalities, which will for sure trigger everyone:

The Constitution provides that “[n]either House [of Congress], during the Session of Congress, shall, without the Consent of the other, adjourn for more than three days.” (Article I, Section 5, clause 4.) Article II, section 3 provides that “in Case of Disagreement between [the Houses], with Respect to the Time of Adjournment, [the president] may adjourn them to such Time as he shall think proper.” 

Step 1: The Speaker of the House (presumably Mike Johnson) seeks to adjourn the House for ten days and requests the Senate’s consent to the House’s adjournment. 

Step 2: The Senate refuses to provide its consent to the House’s adjournment. 

Step 3: Trump adjourns both the House and the Senate for ten days (or maybe two years). [But couldn’t Senate just agree to House’s adjournment? Maybe that’s why some folks were so interested in having Rick Scott as Senate majority leader.] 

Step 4: Trump recess-appoints his Cabinet officers. 

This nomination has become a sort of political Rorschach test, as some view it as a genuine push to clean house at the Justice Department while others see it to soften the upper chamber to get who Trump really wants at DOJ. Is it a ploy to get Gaetz out of Congress? Or is this a test of loyalty among Senate Republicans? Everyone sees what they want to see with Gaetz’s nomination. One thing that is clear is that all I need to see to like the pick is how these professional political operatives who call themselves DOJ officials are reacting: they’re straight-up terrified at the prospect of Attorney General Matt Gaetz.