News/Commentary

Trump could adjourn Congress to circumvent Dem obstruction

January 23, 2025 | | Print Article

President Donald Trump has reportedly threatened to adjourn Congress so that he may make recess appointments.

“Trump most recently raised the prospect of … [adjourning Congress] during his White House meeting Tuesday with Senate Majority Leader John Thune and House Speaker Mike Johnson,” CBS News has confirmed.

However, he’s reportedly only considering using this option if Democrats slow-walk or delay his confirmations. Speaking of which, Democrat Sen. Chris Murphy has reportedly been doing exactly that.

According to Senate Republican Conference chair Tom Cotton, it started with the confirmation vote for CIA Director nominee John Ratcliffe.

“Unfortunately, we were at the point of almost having a consent agreement to have a vote on the confirmation of John Ratcliffe to be the CIA director tomorrow. Not today, not yesterday, when it should have happened, but tomorrow,” Cotton said on the Senate floor Wednesday. “But the senator from Connecticut has decided to object at the last minute.”

“I don’t really understand the objection to Mr. Ratcliffe. He was confirmed by the Senate to be the director of National intelligence. He was fully vetted through the bipartisan process in the Senate Intelligence Committee. We voted him out yesterday on a 14 to 3 vote,” he added.

Murphy defended his obstruction by claiming he just wants a “real debate” first.

“There are serious concerns that many of us have about John Ratcliffe’s ability to distance himself from the political interests of President Trump in his work as C.I.A. director,” he said. “I don’t think it is too much to ask to make sure that we have a full, real debate that lasts two days on the Senate floor, given the serious questions that have arisen.”

In fairness to Democrats, they did vote in lockstep with their Republican colleagues to confirm Secretary of State Marco Rubio. But for some reason, they think everybody else’s nomination needs to be delayed.

“If every one of President Trump’s nominees were as qualified and experienced as Senator Rubio, they would sail through the Senate with bipartisan support,” Minority Leader Chuck Schumer told The New York Times.

“But sadly, too many of the president’s nominees do not match Senator Rubio’s caliber. Too many have troubling backgrounds. Too many seem unprepared for the job, and proved so during testimony,” he added.

Also speaking with the Times, Thune confirmed CBS News’ report about Trump’s tentative plan to use recess appointments.

“Obviously, that’s something that, as you know, he’s expressed an interest in in the past,” Thune said. “I think we’re going to find out here fairly quickly whether or not the Democrats want to help us get through some of these nominations in a way that gets us back on track with the way it was done prior to the last two presidencies.”

As an example, he pointed to the Obama era, when over a dozen Cabinet picks were quickly confirmed after then-President Barack Obama assumed office. What changed!?

Trump for his part is reportedly also thinking about using wildfire relief as a bargaining chip with Democrats.

“They’re going to need a lot of money, and generally speaking I think you will find that a lot of Democrats are going to be asking for help,” he reportedly said. “So I think maybe that makes it more one-sided. I think we’re going to do very well.”

As for the recess appointments, if he were to pursue them, he would likely face legal challenges courtesy of legal precedent.

“The biggest legal test of the power came in 2014, when the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously ruled President Obama had violated the recess appointments clause by naming three picks to the National Labor Relations Board in 2012,” CBS News notes. “The justices said the Senate was not actually in a formal recess when Obama acted.”

Vivek Saxena
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