Mr. Trump has made it clear that he wants the option of going around the Senate to install cabinet and other appointees without the chamber’s approval, reported The New York Times. He could do so with what is known as a “recess appointment,” which allows a president to act on his own when the Senate is not in session.
But it is not clear whether Republican senators would go
along with that plan by going out of session at Mr. Trump’s request. Some of
them have raised
particular alarm at the selection of former
Representative Matt Gaetz of Florida, the ethics-challenged, hard-right
firebrand who has a habit of insulting
fellow Republican lawmakers, for attorney general.
Mr. Trump could try to force the issue, invoking an untested
clause of the Constitution that could be challenged and even end up before the
Supreme Court.
Here’s how it works.
Recess appointments were meant to be a logistical fail-safe.
Article II of the Constitution says that the president can
name officials “by and with the advice and consent of the Senate.” That has
been interpreted for centuries to mean that the chamber is responsible for
vetting and ultimately confirming the president’s nominees.
But when the Constitution was written in the country’s early
days, travel was by horse, and the Senate often was out of session for weeks or
months at a time. If a critical vacancy arose, senators could not necessarily
convene quickly to confirm a replacement. So the founders included an exception that allowed the president to fill
vacancies that arose during a recess without any action by the Senate.
That is known as a “recess appointment.” There is far less
need for it in the era of cars and air travel, but presidents have invoked it
in modern times as a matter of convenience and political expediency.
Recess appointments are common, but usually for lower-level
officials.
Several presidents have used
recess appointments. President Bill Clinton made 139 recess appointments,
and President George W. Bush made 171, although neither used the maneuver to
fill cabinet positions as Mr. Trump wants to do.
President Barack Obama filled 32 positions using recess
appointments, including the assistant attorney general and several under
secretary roles at various departments.
Because recess appointments were never designed to be
permanent, the appointee’s term expires at the end of the next congressional
session. There are also limitations on how and when a recess appointee can
be paid.
Because of a constitutional quirk, neither chamber recesses
for long.
Both the House and Senate frequently take long breaks. But
to comply with a constitutional requirement that neither chamber adjourn for
three days or more without the consent of the other, they typically convene for
a brief period every three days.
Little business, if any, is conducted during these meetings,
called “pro forma” sessions. They are also used to prevent recess appointments
or pocket vetoes, a way of allowing a bill to die if it is left unsigned by the
president when Congress adjourns. The sessions usually involve the saying of a
prayer and the Pledge of Allegiance before a single member bangs the gavel to
adjourn and restart the three-day clock.
In 2014, the Supreme Court unanimously
ruled that Mr. Obama had violated the Constitution by making recess
appointments during a break in the Senate’s work when the chamber was convening
pro forma sessions. Those breaks were too short to be considered recesses, the
justices ruled.
They said the Senate must be out for at least 10 days for it
to count as a recess for the purpose of the president’s appointment power.
Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Republican leader
who is stepping down from his leadership role in the next Congress, filed an
amicus brief in that case.
Trump could try to force a recalcitrant Senate to recess,
but the power is untested.
Article II of the Constitution allows a president to adjourn
one or both chambers of Congress under certain circumstances, including if the
House and Senate disagree about when to be in session.
In that scenario, the Republican-led House could pass an
adjournment resolution and if the Senate refused to approve it, Mr. Trump
could, as the Constitution says, “adjourn them to such a time as
he shall think proper.” In theory, he could then make recess appointments. It
appears that no president has ever tried that particular maneuver.
Edward Whelan, a conservative scholar, wrote in a recent Washington Post opinion piece that the
scenario was a “cockamamie scheme” that Speaker Mike Johnson should denounce
and refuse to implement.
Even if he went along, it is highly likely that Democrats
would follow Mr. McConnell’s example and challenge Mr. Trump’s move as
unconstitutional, almost certainly landing the question before the Supreme
Court. Such a case, however, could take a long time to be adjudicated. By then,
a theoretical Attorney General Matt Gaetz could have run the Justice Department
for months or years.
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