Trump says he’ll adjourn Congress with power no president has used. What will it mean?
President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that he can exercise a power never used by a president to adjourn Congress and push through his nominees without Senate approval, media outlets reported.
“As the entire US government works to combat the global pandemic, it is absolutely essential that key positions at relevant federal agencies are fully staffed, and we’re not allowing that to take place through our Congress,” Trump said during his daily coronavirus briefing, according to CNN. “They’re just not giving it to us. We have many positions that are unstaffed because we can’t get approval.”
Trump said 129 nominees are “stuck in the Senate because of partisan obstruction” and that he has constitutional authority to adjourn Congress since it left until May 4, CNN reported.
“The Constitution provides a mechanism for the President to fill positions in such circumstances. The recess appointment, it’s called. The Senate’s practice of gaveling into so-called pro-forma sessions, where no one is even there, has prevented me from using the constitutional authority we’re given,” he said. “I have a very strong power. I’d rather not use that power, but we have way over a hundred people that we very badly need in this administration that should have been approved a long time ago.”
The Constitution grants the president the power to adjourn houses of Congess “to such Time as he shall think proper,” but only “in Case of Disagreement between them, with Respect to the Time of Adjournment.”
That means the president has the power to adjourn Congress, but only if the Senate and House disagree on when to adjourn, Vox reported.
The president can fill vacancies when the Senate is in recess — an exception to the rule that the Senate has to confirm officials before they’re appointed, according to The New York Times.
Trump can’t make those appointments now because even though the Senate is on a break due to the pandemic, it’s still holding “pro forma sessions” every three days, The New York Times reported.
University of Texas law professor Steve Vladeck wrote on Twitter that the House and the Senate agreed on when to return.
“Article II of the Constitution gives the President the power to adjourn Congress if — and only if — the House and Senate cannot agree on a date for ending the current session,” he wrote. “But they have agreed — January 3, 2021. There’s a reason why this power has *never* been exercised before.”
The Senate has scheduled two more weeks of pro forma sessions on Thursday, meeting every three days until May 4, according to The Hill.
This story was originally published April 16, 2020 at 5:31 PM with the headline "Trump says he’ll adjourn Congress with power no president has used. What will it mean?."