Last month, Washington was in a tizzy about whether President Trump could use the adjournment power as a means to create a recess, and then make recess appointments for his cabinet member. That frenzy seems to have died down, but scholars continue to investigate the issue.
There are two primary legal questions to consider about the adjournment clause. First, can the President invoke the clause to adjourn any session of Congress, or only those extraordinary sessions that he may convene? Second, does the adjournment power empower the President to decide when to adjourn Congress, or does it merely empower him to decide the duration of an adjournment?
I'd like to flag two recent entries in the debate. First, Alan Erbsen wrote a draft article titled "Constitutional Limits on the President's Authority to Adjourn Congress." Second, Jason Willick and Phillip Huff publishded a detailed column in the Washington Post, titled How a long-ago fight over a dormant constitutional weapon echoes today.
