Although he has said little about this week’s Senate Majority Leader election, President-elect Donald Trump has called for a new form of presidential power to speed up Cabinet appointments.
The president’s demand for “recess appointments” (appointments made by the president while the Senate is in session, effectively allowing nominees to bypass Congress) now ranks as a crucial issue in the Senate Republican leadership race. are.
“Republican senators seeking coveted leadership positions in the U.S. Senate must agree to recess appointments (in the Senate!) that would otherwise be impossible to get confirmed in a timely manner. No. …We need to fill the position now!” President Trump wrote to X on Sunday.
Key background: President Trump’s demands have resurfaced a decades-old conflict between presidents and leaders on Capitol Hill. Recess appointments were once a controversial, last-ditch effort by presidents to appoint nominees in the face of long odds of confirmation in the Senate.
Under the practice adopted by majority leaders of both parties, the Senate typically uses procedural procedures to convene “sham” sessions when senators leave town to avoid recesses long enough to bypass Congress. They have used various means to prevent the appointment of recess.
The Supreme Court sided with Congress on the issue in 2014, and the practice has continued ever since.
If the incoming Senate Republican leaders actually say they will allow recess appointments, even those from the same party as the president, it would be a significant expansion of presidential power. For the past few decades, senators from both parties have been skeptical of the practice.
What leadership candidates say: So far, at least one Republican seeking to lead the Senate Republican conference has supported the idea. Republican Sen. Rick Scott said in a post about X: We will do whatever it takes to get your nomination passed as quickly as possible. ”
CNN has reached out to existing members of the Republican leadership, Sens. John Thune and John Cornyn, who are also running for leadership.
CNN’s Ted Barrett and Sarah Ferris contributed to this report.
