Trump calls on candidates for Senate Republican Party leadership to allow “recess appointments.” Here’s what that means.

Congress returns to Capitol Hill this week with a busy agenda following the 2024 presidential election as Republicans have gained control of the Senate and are expected to retain control of the House of Representatives.

House Speaker Mike Johnson said in a news conference Tuesday that there are “tentative plans” for President-elect Donald Trump to come to Capitol Hill on the same day he is scheduled to meet with President Biden at the White House. to meet with House Republicans. On Wednesday, the Senate will also hold elections in the halls of Congress for the next majority leader to replace Republican leader Mitch McConnell, who is stepping down at the end of the year.

The three Republican senators running in the secret ballot are: Minority Whip John Thune of South Dakota, John Cornyn of Texas and Rick Scott of Florida.

Over the weekend, as news of his picks for key Cabinet positions broke, Trump had a message for candidates in a social media post: “Every Republican senator seeking the coveted leadership position in the U.S. Senate must agree to this. “Recess appointments (in the Senate!) without which we will not be able to confirm people on time.”

This isn’t Trump’s first objection to required Senate confirmations of Cabinet nominees. To get around this, during his first term many of his cabinet-level positions were filled by people serving in an “acting” capacity, meaning that authority was delegated to a subordinate who did not need to be confirmed by the Senate. As a result, Trump’s Cabinet has seen more turnover than any recent president, The Washington Post reported.

So what are “break dates”? Here’s what Trump says:

What is a break date?

Under normal circumstances, a newly inaugurated president appoints various people to fill government positions in the executive and judicial branches, including cabinet secretaries, ambassadors and federal judges. Many (though not all) of these nominees must appear before the Senate for a confirmation hearing at which they will be asked questions about their qualifications and how they will perform their duties in the position for which they have been nominated. A simple majority in the Senate is required to confirm the person to office. This is intended to serve as a kind of check and balance on presidential power.

However, a recess appointment allows presidents to fill their nominee for the position while the Senate is in recess, without a confirmation hearing or vote, according to the Recess Appointments Clause of the U.S. Constitution. It states: “The President shall have the authority to fill any vacancies which may arise during the recess of the Senate by authorizing commissions which shall expire at the end of their next session.”

That means if a president manages to secure a recess appointment, that person’s term would only last about two years. At that point, the person could be reappointed through the same recess appointment or through the regular Senate confirmation process.

Are there any restrictions or guidelines?

Recess appointments are only permitted if the Senate is not in session for at least 10 days. In 2014, the U.S. Supreme Court gave the Senate more authority to restrict the use of recess appointments after President Barack Obama made three controversial recess appointments to the National Labor Relations Board during a three-day recess in 2012. In a 9-0 decision, the Supreme Court ruled that three days “is too short a time to bring a break within the scope of the clause.”

The Senate used “pro forma” sessions when lawmakers were out of town, or short sessions that did not involve official business, to prevent a president from bypassing confirmation votes. This could simply result in a senator giving in and then ending the session.

Which other presidents have used recess appointments?

Break dates should only be used in emergencies. But in recent decades they have been used as a political tool to circumvent congressional opposition.

During Trump’s first term as president in 2020, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, he threatened to adjourn Congress so he could attend recess appointments, but that threat never came true.

According to the Congressional Research Service, former President Obama attended 32 recess appointments during his time in office; Bill Clinton came in at 139 and George W. Bush at 171.

How have the three Republican candidates for Senate leadership responded to Trump’s demands?

All three candidates appear to agree that Trump should be able to make appointments during recess, even though Republicans already have a majority in the Senate. As Trump indicated in his social media post, he wants his nominees for top positions to be appointed immediately. A recess appointment would also avoid the public scrutiny that a Senate hearing could bring, raising the risk that some Republicans could defect over a highly contentious election.

Senator Scott responded to Trump’s social media post by saying, “I agree 100%. “I will do everything I can to get your nominations through as quickly as possible.”

While Senator Thune told Fox News Digital that “all options are on the table.” And Sen. Cornyn, Thune’s main rival, posted on social media that the Constitution “explicitly gives the President the authority to make recess appointments.”