Trump warns he'll adjourn Congress to make recess appointments. How would that work? [View all]

Source: CBS News

Updated on: January 22, 2025 / 3:45 PM EST


President Trump is threatening to use his powers to adjourn Congress so he can make recess appointments for at least some of his top Cabinet nominees and their deputies, enabling them to begin running the largest federal departments.

Mr. Trump most recently raised the prospect of plunging the executive and legislative branches into uncharted constitutional territory during his White House meeting Tuesday with Senate Majority Leader John Thune and House Speaker Mike Johnson, mulling the option if Democrats opt to slow-walk or delay his top national security and public health nominees, according to two people familiar with the meetings.

"This remains a significant possibility in the eyes of the White House," one of the people familiar with the meetings said, emphasizing this is not expected to happen this week, but remains under active consideration. Mr. Trump has signaled he wants the Senate to move quickly to confirm his top Cabinet picks, and Republican senators have said for weeks they want to move swiftly, particularly on his top national security appointments.

On Monday night, the Senate unanimously confirmed Marco Rubio as secretary of state, but votes on John Ratcliffe to serve as CIA director, Pete Hegseth to serve as defense secretary, and Kristi Noem to serve as homeland security secretary, are still in the queue for consideration. Procedural issues are delaying those votes, with Democrats slowing consideration of Ratcliffe and Republicans warning they'll hold a final up-or-down vote on him over the weekend, if necessary.

Read more: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-recess-appointments-adjourning-congress/