House Speaker Mike Johnson has refused to rule out the use of recess appointments to appoint Donald Trump’s cabinet nominations of Pete Hegseth and Matt Gaetz without Senate approval.
In an interview on Fox News Sunday with Shannon Bream, Johnson said the constitutional loophole could have some “function” in getting his nominations through.
He also said that there would be a process of evaluation “at the appropriate time.”
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“I believe in the principle of a new president being able to choose his team, and that used to not be a controversial notion,” Johnson said.
“We’re at a time of very divided government and a very partisan atmosphere in Washington. I wish it were not. I wish the Senate would simply do its job of advice and consent and allow the President to put the persons in his cabinet of his choosing. But if this thing bogs down, it would be a great detriment to the country, to the American people.”
Johnson claimed that such a power grab may be necessary to follow through on Trump’s promises to his voters.
“We’ll evaluate all that at the appropriate time, and we’ll make the appropriate decision. There may be a function for [recess appointments], and we’ll have to see how it plays out,” he added.
Recess appointments are an archaic loophole in the U.S. Constitution that has been suggested as a possible way for Trump to get his nominations through without due scrutiny.
It allows presidents to make appointments for official positions when Congress is not in session for a period of time.
Given the nature of the appointment as being a temporary one in extraordinary circumstances, cabinet selections would only last up to one year in the official positions, or until the end of a congressional session.
Senators would first need to vote for recess to take place. There is no guarantee it would, with Republicans such as Lisa Murkowski of Alaska showing their opposition to Trump’s picks by claiming that Gaetz was not a “serious nomination.”
There is precedent for recess appointments in recent presidential terms, with Bill Clinton and George W Bush racking up over a hundred appointments each, according to Congressional Research Service.
The Supreme Court ruled against former president Obama in 2014 for various appointments they deemed unconstitutional. But the loophole has not been used to fill important cabinet roles as president-elect Trump has suggested.
