Don’t threaten Mr. President. Just do it. Do it. I’m tired of Congress playing games. They already call Pres. Trump a dictator, so I don’t care if they hammer that down some more. If he can do it Constitutionally, then I’m for it.
On Wednesday, in the White House Rose Garden, Pres. Trump threatened to use his constitutional power to adjourn both houses of Congress to make recess appointments he badly needs during this pandemic.
Half of these politicians are not in Washington, D.C., because of the COVID-19 virus. They’re taking voice votes in the House of Representatives, and that included the vote for the $2 trillion worth of spending. The least we can ask as that they’re there to do their job and put their vote on the record.
This is a good move on the part of Trump; using the power that is explicitly lined out in the Constitution means he’s on as solid ground as is possible to do this.
BREAKING: President Trump says he might "exercise my constitutional authority to adjourn both chambers of Congress" if his nominations aren't approved.
This power has never before been used by a president. pic.twitter.com/cMfmfl2HAT
— Meet the Press (@MeetThePress) April 15, 2020
“If the House will not agree to that adjournment, I will exercise my constitutional authority to adjourn both chambers of Congress,” Trump said at a Rose Garden briefing of the coronavirus task force. “The current practice of leaving town while conducting phony pro forma sessions is a dereliction of duty that the American people cannot afford during this crisis. It is a scam what they do.”
Noting that the Senate, which has the responsibility for confirming executive-branch appointments, had “left Washington until at least May 4,” Trump said that “the Constitution provides a mechanism for the president to fill positions in such circumstances, the recess appointment, it’s called.”
Officials appointed in this manner can serve until the end of the following Senate session, although if Trump is not reelected in November the next president may choose to replace them with his or her own appointees.
Trump cited Michael Pack, whom he nominated to head the U.S. Agency for Global Media in June 2018. [Yahoo News]
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From their behavior, you’d think that the worst thing leftists have to put up within this pandemic is having to read the Constitution.
The extraordinary occasion provision applies to convene Congress, not adjourning it. That power has been used before. And if he argues that the pandemic response is being hampered because he needs confirmed appointees, then it would be an entirely appropriate occasion to convene Congress and ask it to consider those nominees.
Many point back to Barack Obama, making recess appointments as well, but that was a different beast as the U.S. Supreme Court invalidated his appointments. The reason? The U.S. Senate was, in fact, NOT in recess.
What Pres. Trump is saying is that he will use the Constitution, Article II, Section 3, he has the power to do it. Get ready for a media freak out when he does it, though…
Let’s see if he tweets that video of Pelosi in front of those refrigerators. That would be the cherry on top after this announcement.
This piece was written by Wayne Dupree on April 16, 2020. It originally appeared in WayneDupree.com and is used by permission.
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