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In reply to the discussion: Trump warns he'll adjourn Congress to make recess appointments. How would that work? [View all]BumRushDaShow
(146,629 posts)Oh we all know this BUT that is where the GOP majority in both chambers, can "MANUFACTURE A 'DISAGREEMENT'" in order to allow this invocation if 45 (I refuse to call him 47) demands it.
We will have to see if they plan to stoop that low but don't be surprised if they do. The GOP legal tyrants have been testing EVERY loophole and vaguery in the Constitution so far (like the "immunity" nonsense) and may end up doing so here.
Democrats are doing what the GOP had been doing whenever we were in charge (going back to the Obama era when they took the volume up to 11) - blocking and stalling, and in our case, rightly so for the parade of abject lunatics and criminals who have been proffered to be appointees.
A Recess Appointment is still a temporary thing and only in effect for that Congressional session's time period.
Ever since Shrub Recess-appointed Bolton as U.N. Ambassador over the objections of not only Democrats but Republicans as well, the Senate has included a pretty much "standard" Rule to do "Pro Forma" sessions every 3 days (following the Constitution's 3-day requirement to either shit or get off the pot ).
Bolton Is U.N. Envoy as Bush Bypasses Senate
This is where someone (usually a "local" Senator from VA or MD or even DE) will go to the chamber, gavel it in as a "President Pro-Tempore", and they will go through their "Morning Business" routine of the Pledge of Allegiance, convocation, etc., will maybe have some speeches, read off a schedule, and then gavel into a "Recess Subject to the Call of the Chair", which is not a "technical" Recess or Adjournment but a "we're still in session and be ready to come back when notified".
Good discussion of this -
Congressional Institute
Dec 03, 2007
The Constitution (Article II, Section 2, Clause 3) specifically allows the President to make a temporary appointment to an executive branch position without Senate approval if the Senate is in recess. This appointment, known as a recess appointment allows the individual to serve in the position until the end of the current Congress. In this case, January 2009.
(snip)
The growing use of the recess appointment process is another sign of the strain between the two political parties in Washington. The Democrats control the Senate, but even when Republicans held control during the middle four years of President Bushs two terms, the Democrats had sufficient numbers to block or filibuster any nominees they did not approve of. (This is not a partisan statement, the same thing applied when there was a Democrat president and a Republican Congress). Usually when frustration spills over, the President, either to spite the opposition or to make a political statement, makes a recess appointment to a disputed position. The appointment of John Bolton as Ambassador to the United Nations was an example of a nomination that was being filibustered in the Senate. The Senate could not break the Democrat filibuster and President Bush appointed Bolton to the job where he served until the end of the 109th Congress.
(snip)
Of course, if there is no recess, there can be no recess appointments. The House and Senate take several recesses through the year. Traditionally, they have taken a two-week recess for the Thanksgiving holiday. The Constitution says (Article I, Section 5, Clause 4) that Neither House, during the session of Congress, shall, without the consent of the other, adjourn for more than three days
So, in order to allow the Senators to leave Washington for more than three days as if it were in a recess without actually declaring a recess, the Senate meets in what is called pro forma session once every three days. Pro forma means, in form only. In the case of a pro forma session of the Senate, the Senate convenes, the chaplain says a prayer, and Senate adjourns. The Majority Leader usually needs the cooperation of a majority party Senator who lives in Washington D.C. or represents one of the nearby jurisdictions. As long as the Senate conducts a pro forma session every three days it is never actually in recess and the President cannot make a recess appointment. In this way, Majority Leader Reid prevented President Bush from making any additional recess appointments over the Thanksgiving recess.
Back in 2014. the SCOTUS upheld the Pro-Forma sessions in a Ruling against then-President Obama when he challenged the Rule, insisting that the Senate really WASN'T doing anything during those 3 days and were thus "in Recess".
Supreme court rules against Obama on recess appointments
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