Incoming Senate Republican leadership has flirted with handing over a significant portion of its power to allow President-elect Donald Trump a chance to avoid the Senate’s confirmation process entirely to staff up the administration in his second term.
Ahead of Wednesday’s leadership elections, Trump and his allies have pushed the candidates to potentially allow recess appointments to his Cabinet and other positions, which experts said would cause a major shift away from the Senate’s constitutional “advice and consent” role.
The Constitution’s recess appointments power allows a president to make a temporary appointment to a position that would normally require Senate confirmation while the Senate is in recess. Those recess appointments would last until the end of the upcoming session of Congress, in this case 2026.
