Trump threatens to adjourn Congress
President Donald Trump is threatening to adjourn both houses of Congress if the lawmakers usually do not formally declare an effective recess, which would allow him to appoint some nominees without the Senate’s approval.
Recently, Congress has refused to fully adjourn during most breaks precisely to avoid the president from making recess appointments. Little if any business is conducted in such "pro-forma sessions," nonetheless they give members of both chambers of Congress the opportunity to go back home without entering recess.
It's a process lawmakers also employed to thwart President Barack Obama's nominees.
Trump says he's had enough. "Perhaps it's never been done before, nobody's even sure if it has, but we will do it."
The Constitution does not spell out a unilateral power for the president to adjourn Congress. It states only that he can choose adjournment when there is a dispute over it between your House and Senate. Such a disagreement will not now exist, neither is it likely to arise.
Constitutional scholar Jonathan Turley said on Twitter the Constitution provides president authority in "extraordinary occasions" to convene or adjourn Congress. However, he said, "This power has never been used and should not be utilized now."
It would be an extraordinary showdown between the two branches of government that contain engaged in repeated tests of constitutional powers in the Trump era.
"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," Trump said Wednesday at the White House.
Doug Andres, a spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, said the senator talked with Trump and shared his frustration about the process, but Andres also indicated the existing rules regarding adjournments will remain. He said McConnell "pledged to find ways to confirm nominees considered mission-critical to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Under Senate rules, Andres said, that may require consent from Minority Leader Chuck Schumer.
Whether that will be enough for Trump is unclear. He acknowledged his actions would likely be challenged in court.
"We will see who wins," he said.
Source: www.theindependentbd.com
