Oppose Cabinet Recess Appointments

Trump and his transition team have begun announcing their picks for Cabinet positions, and it is shaping up to be a Who’s Who of MAGA loyalists and co-conspirators. So far Trump has tapped Fox News host Pete Hegseth - who has no senior military or national security experience - for Defense Secretary, anti-vaxxer RFK Jr for Health and Human Services Secretary, and Rep. Matt Gaetz, who is under investigation for sex trafficking, for Attorney General.

As part of our system of checks and balances, the US Constitution gives the US Senate power to “advise and consent” on Executive Branch positions, like the President’s Cabinet. This is to prevent the President from having dictator-like unilateral control of the federal government. However Trump is now pressuring the Republican-controlled Senate to bypass this process and use “recess appointments” to push through controversial nominees without background checks, hearings, or votes. Anyone confirmed through a recess appointment will be free to remain in their position without accountability for two years. While the Constitution makes room for recess appointments, and Presidents in the past have used them to prevent important positions from going unfilled for long periods of time, they have never been used for top level Cabinet positions, and the Supreme Court put limits on recess appointments in 2014 in response to some made by President Obama.

However, it is clear that Trump’s intent to use recess appointments for all top level positions in his administration is his way of making good on his promise to rule as a dictator and eschew the division of power engrained in our Constitution. If the Senate cows to this demand and allows Trump to fill confirm anyone he wants with no accountability, they will only be furthering the erosion of our democracy.