President-elect Trump's victory means an end to business as usual in Washington.
His desire to exercise his appointment authority while on leave is a clear sign of how serious he is about making the federal government responsive to the will of the American people. Our founders never imagined a situation where Congress would plan to play make-believe. “Proforma” session It has the power of Congress for the sole purpose of preventing the President from appointing officials and carrying out his policies.
Planning a vacation isn't a complicated concept. The Constitution gives the president the power to appoint executive branch officials when Congress is in session due to a vacancy. in Federalist No.67Alexander Hamilton states that the power to make appointments in recess is merely an auxiliary to establish a subsidiary method of appointment when the general method is insufficient. ” The Senate is tasked with confirming nominations, but confirmations are extremely slow.
When President Trump takes office on January 20, he will face major obstacles to his policies. According to tradition, the Senate convenes to confirm a small number of Cabinet officials, but thousands of other political appointment positions are expected to become vacant thanks to changes in partisan control of the White House. . This large number of executive branch vacancies will make it virtually impossible for the Trump administration to conduct any business for months while it awaits Senate confirmation of hundreds of nominees. Now that the party is out of power, it will do everything it can to thwart President Trump's policies.
Senate Democrats will block it in two ways. First, they would demand public hearings on all nominations, in addition to opposing the waiver of rules that facilitate consideration of nominations. Although a filibuster of nominations can be broken by a simple majority, the nominations still take time to process, effectively creating a filibuster. The second tactic is to call for so-called preliminary sessions of the House and Senate in which no action is taken, which would require Republican buy-in.
The absurdity of the idea of pro forma sessions was recently exposed by Rep. Andy Harris (R-Md.), leader of the House Freedom Caucus, and Rep. Bob Good (R-Va.). they attended the House floor During the pro forma session on election day He then submitted a bill that would be subject to a petition for removal and exempted the House from having to vote on it.
House leaders cried out that their actions in repealing bad legislation violated protocol, but these Freedom Caucus members did not violate any rules. They just exposed the fact that pro forma sessions are a farce.
The 2026 midterm elections are just around the corner. 20 Senate Republicans participate in the voteno time to waste. Congress will have one year to implement President Trump's policies before a new election season begins. If Democrats delay nominations and the Senate spends too much time confirming nominees, time will be wasted on passing solid reconciliation legislation, cutting wasteful spending, and passing reform-oriented legislation. Barring Democratic obstruction in the Senate, President-elect Trump will have a great year in 2025.
The Constitution specifically provides for the president's powers regarding nominations. Article 2, Paragraph 2 The Constitution gives the president the power to make appointments subject to the “advice and consent of the Senate.”Article 2, Paragraph 3 The Constitution gives the president the power to “fill all vacancies that may occur during the recess of the Senate.” Since Republicans control both houses of Congress, there is no reason why they can't actually adjourn the House of Representatives during the adjournment instead of holding a sham session for fear of resistance from Democrats.
One of my former Senate colleagues used to say, “Destroy the cots,” when there was a hint of a filibuster and a potential Senate challenge. It would take Republicans overnight to roll a cot into the Senate to intimidate Democrats into recessing the Senate. Remember, this is the U.S. Senate, which is basically in session from Tuesday through Thursday, a full day's work with frequent “statehood periods” and the infamous “August recess” that lasts a month. We are doing
The Founders never envisioned the creation of an administrative state where the approval of 1,200 appointees would distract Congress from its legislative duties. Strategic use of the Constitution's power to make recess appointments would ensure that Mr. Trump conserves political capital for the most fruitful debates ahead, allowing Congress to focus on its primary legislative duties, and The American people will experience the rebirth of this great nation.
Brian Darling is a former general counsel to Senator Rand Paul (R-Kentucky).
