Can Trump Really Certify Cabinet Picks Through Recess Appointments? – Daily news

President-elect Trump is calling on Senate Republicans to support his agenda or get out of the way, going so far as to call for a pause in the appointments of his recently announced Cabinet picks. Trump has said he wants his Cabinet, which includes unconventional nominees such as Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Pete Hegseth and Tulsi Gabbard, to be in place soon after his inauguration, even if that means the Senate won’t vote on those nominees. as is usually done. .

To achieve his goal of getting to work right away, Trump is pushing the Senate to step aside rather than allow senators’ concerns about some of his nominees to delay or jeopardize their confirmation. If senators agree to Trump’s demands, they will allow Trump to appoint his Cabinet nominees unilaterally. Some observers fear Trump could even force the Senate to adjourn to nominate his nominees, even if senators refuse to go along with his plan.

This has led many to wonder: what are these break meetings? And could Trump use them to bypass the Constitution’s advice and consent process, in which senators approve or disapprove of the president’s Cabinet picks?

The point is that procedural maneuvering can only give Trump the Cabinet he wants if senators support his election and refuse to give way so he can act without them. In short, Trump needs the Senate to confirm his nominees one way or another. He needs senators to confirm his choices, or he needs them to adjourn long enough to confirm them. However, Trump cannot force the Senate to do what he does not want.

The Constitution defines how the approval process works. Its Appointments Clause gives the president the power to appoint individuals to serve in the federal government. It also requires the Senate to confirm presidential nominees before they are formally appointed. The Constitution’s recess clause gives the president the power to appoint individuals to office for a limited period.

However, the president can only use these powers when the Senate is not in session and cannot approve or reject the president’s nominees. Time limits on recess appointments ensure that the government has the people it needs to do the job without undermining the Senate’s role in the confirmation process.

The Constitution also specifies what must happen before the president can make recess appointments. Its Rules of Proceedings Clause gives the House and Senate the power to determine how their members make decisions, including how to adjourn (or recess). Both chambers currently require a simple majority of their members to adjourn.

The Constitution limits the adjournment of the House and Senate by requiring both chambers to agree to recess for more than three days. In “extraordinary cases” when the House and Senate cannot agree “as to the time of recess,” the Constitution authorizes the President to adjourn Congress.

Even with these constitutional provisions, recess appointments are not key to Trump assembling his Cabinet. That’s because Trump only needs to call recesses if a majority of the Senate is willing to go along with his plan to call a recess. A majority in the Senate is required to confirm Trump’s nominees. Candidates confirmed by the Senate through the regular confirmation process are preferred to have their appointments revoked because their ability to serve does not expire at a specific time.

Using recess appointments could even delay the new administration’s work, given the time that must pass before the president can use them. The Supreme Court ruled in 2014 that the Senate must be out of session for at least ten days before the president can recess, but Republicans could reconsider Trump’s choices now and use their majority to speed up the confirmation process in January. Democrats can’t even filibuster Trump’s nominees after they used the “nuclear option” to eliminate the filibuster for all executive branch nominations in 2013.

And Trump cannot force a shutdown of Congress if Republicans – or the Senate majority – oppose his nominees and are unwilling to adjourn so he can appoint them unilaterally. The President’s constitutional powers are exercised “in the event of disagreement” between the House and Senate regarding the length of the recess. A majority in the Senate must be active in order to be in disagreement with the House.