President-elect Donald Trump demanded in a social media post on Sunday that U.S. Senate Republicans looking to replace Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell agree to recess appointments, breaking from the traditional Senate confirmation process.
This week’s presidential election was a big win for Republicans with Trump winning the presidency against Vice President Kamala Harris and Republicans taking control of the Senate. Before Trump can fill his new administration, many positions will have to be confirmed by the Senate, including the defense secretary, homeland security secretary and the state secretary.
Trump has suggested bypassing Senate confirmation through the use of recess appointments, an exception meant to be used when the Senate is in recess in which the president can make temporary appointments to high-level federal positions without Senate approval.
“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, formerly Twitter, 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!”
While many presidents have appointed acting cabinet members early in their administrations until a formal nomination process can take place, Trump had more acting secretaries in his cabinet during his first term than any other president. He also left many political appointments vacant late into his administration even though Republicans controlled the Senate at the time.
When reached for comment on Sunday about why the president-elect wants to make recess appointments, Trump’s communications director, Steven Cheung, told Newsweek via email, “I don’t think you understand the process.”
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In his post, Trump was referring to the Senate majority leadership position, currently held by Senator Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat. Since the Senate flipped, a Republican is set to take over the position, but it won’t be McConnell as he announced earlier this year that he would not continue as the Republican leader of the Senate in the new term.
In response to Trump’s demand about recess appointments, Florida Senator Rick Scott, who is in the running for Senate majority leader, wrote on X on Sunday,”100% agree. I will do whatever it takes to get your nominations through as quickly as possible.”
Another potential pick for Senate majority leader, Texas’ John Cornyn, wrote on X on Sunday, “It is unacceptable for Senate Ds to blockade President @realDonaldTrump’s cabinet appointments. If they do, we will stay in session, including weekends, until they relent. Additionally, the Constitution expressly confers the power on the President to make recess appointments.”
Meanwhile, South Dakota Senator John Thune, the current Senate minority whip who is also in the running for Senate majority leader, told Andrew Desiderio, a senior congressional reporter for Punchbowl News on Sunday via text message, “One thing is clear: We must act quickly and decisively to get the president’s cabinet and other nominees in place as soon as possible to start delivering on the mandate we’ve been sent to execute, and all options are on the table to make that happen, including recess appointments.”
Desiderio wrote in reaction to Trump’s post: “Hooooo boy. Trump wants… the ability to do recess appointments. But this is why the Senate does pro forma sessions — to prevent recess appointments.”
A pro forma session is a brief meeting of a legislative body during which no formal business is conducted. Pro forma sessions can and have been used to prevent the president from making recess appointments.
Trump also told his Republican allies that they should block the Democrats, who hold the power in the upper chamber until January 3, from confirming judges.
He wrote in his X post on Sunday that “no Judges should be approved during this period of time because the Democrats are looking to ram through their Judges as the Republicans fight over Leadership. THIS IS NOT ACCEPTABLE.”