Senate Leadership Candidates Support Recess Appointments

Donald Trump has clearly learned from his first term as president, and now he is looking to hit the ground running.

To that point, Trump is encouraging the Senate to allow recess appointments to avoid the same mess that happened last time around.

All three candidates for Senate leadership are reportedly supporting the request by Trump.

Let’s Get Rolling

Thus far, three people have expressed interest in running for Senate leadership once the GOP takes over the Senate in 2025.

Senators John Thune (R-S.D.), John Cornyn (R-TX), and Rick Scott (R-FL) are the three candidates, and all three of them have support among some pretty influential members of Congress.

For instance, Scott is being backed by Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL), who will serve as Trump’s Secretary of State, Cornyn has the support of Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO), a MAGA Senator, and Thune will have the establishment behind him.

Hawley surprised me by backing Cornyn, who is a Senator McConnell (R-KY) ally.

Ever since Obama was in office, Senate leaders have blocked recess appointments by holding pro forma sessions to prevent such appointments from happening.

Even Thune supported this, which shocked me, posting, “We must act quickly and decisively to get the president’s nominees in place as soon as possible & all options are on the table to make that happen, including recess appointments. We cannot let Schumer and Senate Dems block the will of the American people.”

Cornyn also supported it, citing Article 2, Section 2, Clause 3 of the Constitution to show Trump’s authority to make such appointments.

Trump addressed this on Sunday, posting, “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.

“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!”

Scott, who I believe would be the best Senate leader to push Trump’s agenda, also agreed to allow recess appointments, stating, “100% agree. I will do whatever it takes to get your nominations through as quickly as possible.”

While Trump will have the power as president to make recess appointments, per the Constitution, the Supreme Court previously ruled that the Senate must be on break for at least 10 days or longer for such an appointment to be approved.

This is why the Senate, for years, has been holding pro forma sessions to avoid qualifying for that 10-day break.

I can tell you right now, Democrats will do everything they can to block longer scheduled breaks knowing that Trump would push through controversial appointments during these breaks.

Dig in, folks, because this is not going to be a smooth ride.