US President-elect Donald Trump has said that any Republican lawmaker vying to be a party leader in the United States Senate must allow him to appoint cabinet officials without a confirmation vote in the chamber.
Republican senators are in the process of picking their next leader, who will wield significant power come January after the party wrested back control of the Senate from Democrats in the November 5 election.
In a post on his Truth Social platform on Sunday, Trump said that “any Republican Senator seeking the coveted LEADERSHIP position in the United States Senate must agree to Recess Appointments (in the Senate!)”.
“We need positions filled IMMEDIATELY!” he wrote.
US senators hold hearings and confirmation votes for presidential appointees such as cabinet heads of huge government agencies including the Defense Department and Department of Health and Human Services.
A constitutional clause, however, allows for presidents to bypass a Senate vote if the chamber is in an extended recess.
But the Senate has not allowed presidents to make so-called recess appointments since a 2014 Supreme Court ruling limited the president’s power to do so.
Since then, the chamber has held brief “pro-forma” sessions when it is out of town for more than 10 days so that a president cannot take advantage of the absence and start filling posts that have not been confirmed.
With Trump now entering a second term, emboldened by his sweeping election victory, Sunday’s social media post signals that he expects Senate Republicans – and by extension, their new leader – to fall in line behind his cabinet selections.
Trump’s relationship with Congress was tumultuous in his first term as he chafed at resistance to his selections and sought ways to work around lawmakers.
On Sunday, with Trump’s approval key in the race to be the next Republican Senate leader, all three candidates vying for the GOP’s Senate leadership role quickly suggested that they might be willing to reconsider the practice of recess appointments.
Republican Senators Rick Scott of Florida, John Cornyn of Texas and John Thune of South Dakota are running in a secret ballot election on Wednesday to lead the GOP conference and replace longtime leader Mitch McConnell.
“100% agree,” Scott, who has the backing of several close Trump allies, said in a social media post in response to the president-elect’s call. “I will do whatever it takes to get your nominations through as quickly as possible.”
Cornyn noted in his own post on X that recess appointments are allowed under the US Constitution and said that it is “unacceptable” for Democrats to try to block Trump’s appointments.
Thune, meanwhile, said in a statement that Republicans must “quickly and decisively” act to get nominees in place and that “all options are on the table to make that happen, including recess appointments”.
In his social media post, Trump – who has not yet endorsed anyone in the leadership race – also called for the Senate to halt any pending judicial nominations.
“No Judges should be approved during this period of time because the Democrats are looking to ram through their Judges as the Republicans fight over Leadership. THIS IS NOT ACCEPTABLE,” he wrote.
Democrats have narrowly controlled the Senate throughout President Joe Biden’s term, during which they have pushed through hundreds of federal judges, seeking to offset a huge wave of conservatives installed by Trump during his first term.
The next Senate will be sworn in in early January.
Republicans are expected to hold at least 52 seats in the 100-member chamber after capturing three previously held by Democrats in West Virginia, Ohio and Montana in last Tuesday’s election.