On Sunday, Speaker Mike Johnson left the door open to adjournment of Congress so President-elect Donald Trump could, if necessary, appoint his Cabinet nominees outside the normal Senate confirmation process.
“We’re in a time of very divided government and a very partisan atmosphere in Washington. I wish it wasn’t. I wish the Senate would simply do its job of advise and consent and allow the president to put his picks into the Cabinet. But if it goes down, it’s going to do a lot of damage to the country, to the American people,” Johnson told Fox News Sunday when asked if he would allow Trump to use the recess appointment process. , rather than the traditional Senate confirmation process for certain nominees.
A recess appointment occurs when the president unilaterally bypasses the Senate’s responsibility to confirm Cabinet nominees and appoints them while both the House and Senate are out of session for at least 10 days.
Johnson said on Sunday: “We will evaluate all of this in due course and make an appropriate decision. There may be a function for that. We’ll have to see how that plays out.”
He added: “I sympathize with all these arguments. Like I said, we’ll have to see how it develops. I really hope, I really hope that the Senate will do its job, that is, it will give its advice and consent and advance these candidates.”
To allow the recess appointment process to take place, the House and Senate would both have to vote to adjourn for at least 10 days, which would require either them to pass it unanimously or require both chambers to vote. concurrent resolution to adjourn for a specified period.
Both chambers typically rush into pro forma sessions even during recess to prevent the president from making recess appointments and bypassing congressional approval.
President Barack Obama once tried to use holiday designations and He was reprimanded by the Supreme CourtIn 2014, it stated that breaks must be 10 days or longer for recess meetings to be legal.
Johnson isn’t the only Trump ally leaving the door open to using the recess to confirm Trump’s Cabinet picks.
Also Sunday, Oklahoma GOP Sen. Markwayne Mullin told NBC News’ “Meet the Press” that it would be a “very difficult” process to confirm some of Trump’s picks, so recess appointments would be a “last resort.”
“It would definitely be a last resort,” Mullin said. “But if we have to do it to get approval, then by all means, let’s do it. But I would say that it would be the last option.”
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., said Sunday that Democrats will try to oppose GOP efforts for recess appointments, telling NBC News’ “Meet the Press” that if Republicans try to bypass the regular Senate confirmation process, “we are the Senate Democrats.” we will work closely with our colleagues, I have great confidence and respect [Senate Majority] Leader Chuck Schumer and [Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman] Dick Durbin to make sure no last run could be made.
On Sunday, Johnson also talked about Trump’s pick for attorney general, former GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz.
Gaetz has been under scrutiny since resigning from the House last week over Trump’s Cabinet nomination.
While serving in Congress, he was investigated by the House Ethics Committee for having sex with a 17-year-old girl. Gaetz has repeatedly denied the allegations, but senators on both sides of the aisle have called to the committee‘report will be made public or shared with them personally before the confirmation vote.
Johnson has previously spoken out against the release of the report, telling CNN on Sunday: “What I’m saying about the report is that it shouldn’t be released and why Matt Gaetz resigned from Congress. He is no longer a member. There is a very important protocol, tradition, and rule that we maintain that the jurisdiction of the House Ethics Committee does not extend to non-members of Congress.”
He added that senators “will have a rigorous vetting and vetting process in the Senate, but they don’t need to rely on the report or the draft report, the rough draft report prepared by the Ethics Committee for a very limited purpose. “
Johnson also said he had not spoken to the president-elect about the ethics report.
“I’ve literally never said a single word about the ethics report, and I’ve spent a lot of time with it this week,” Johnson said.