Trump calls on GOP senators vying to be majority leader to agree to recess appointments

President-elect Donald Trump is demanding a new form of presidential power to expedite the appointment of his Cabinet, which is also now potentially defining this week’s battle to lead the Senate GOP.

President-elect Donald Trump is demanding a new form of presidential power to expedite the appointment of his Cabinet, which is also now potentially defining this week’s battle to lead the Senate GOP. In a social media post on Sunday, Trump – who had said little about the race for Senate majority leader – said any Republican senator vying to be leader “must agree to Recess Appointments” to get his nominees “confirmed in a timely manner.” “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!” Trump posted on X. Trump’s demand for recess appointments, which would allow his nominees to essentially bypass Congress, resurfaces a decades-old clash between presidents and Capitol Hill leaders — one in which the Supreme Court has previously weighed in favor of the Senate’s powers. One obstacle to Trump’s wishes is that both chambers have to pass a resolution to go into recess, which would give Senate Democrats an opportunity to filibuster the resolution and essentially block its passage. During Trump’s first term, for example, he was blocked by the Senate from using recess appointments to replace then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions. But if the incoming Senate GOP leader did back the idea, it would be notable support for expansion of presidential power, even for a leader in the same party as the president-elect. In past decades, senators of both parties have been skeptical of the practice.