President-elect Donald Trump has demanded the Republican senators running for majority leader back recess appointments that would fast-track his nominees and bypass congressional scrutiny.
“Any Republican Senator seeking the coveted LEADERSHIP position in the United States Senate must agree to Recess Appointments (in the Senate!), without which we will not be able to get people confirmed in a timely manner,” Trump wrote on X on Sunday. “Sometimes the votes can take two years, or more. This is what they did four years ago, and we cannot let it happen again. We need positions filled IMMEDIATELY!”
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The three senators vying to replace Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY) as the party’s leader in the chamber immediately fell in line, indicating their willingness to follow Trump’s orders.
“100% agree,” wrote Senator Rick Scott (R-FL), the MAGA diehard whose onetime longshot bid for the leadership has gained steam with the backing of Trump allies Elon Musk, Tucker Carlson, and Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., as well as his racist pal Laura Loomer.
“I will do whatever it takes to get your nominations through as quickly as possible,” he added.
Senator John Thune (R-SD) said, in a post on X, that “all options are on the table” when it comes to getting Trump’s nominees in place, “including recess appointments.”
Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) also indicated that, if elected leader, he is willing to keep the Senate in session, working through the weekends, until Democrats agree to Trump’s appointees. If that fails, he said recess appointments would be an option.
Republican senators will vote in a secret ballot Wednesday to determine which of Scott, Thune or Cornyn will lead the GOP conference after McConnell steps down.
Recess appointments can be made when the chamber is not in session, lasting a maximum of two years unless the Senate later confirms the nominee.
Both Republicans and Democrats have fended off recess appointments in recent years by holding short pro-forma sessions that prevent the president from bypassing the Senate’s consent.
The Supreme Court issued a unanimous ruling in 2014 that three recess appointments by then-President Barack Obama were unconstitutional because the Senate was holding a pro-forma session and therefore not in true recess.
The chamber has not allowed a president, Democrat or Republican, to make a recess appointment since that ruling.
Democrats could conceivably try to stave off attempts by the GOP to fast-track Trump’s appointments by filibustering any motions to go into recess.
