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Donald Trump’s stated desire to use recess appointments is about more than putting his cabinet secretaries and other appointees in place without a fight. With a 54-seat majority in the Senate, he has the ability to get anyone who isn’t truly beyond the pale confirmed. And there’s not much that’s beyond the pale for MAGA.
After all, in his first term, Trump stuck with a Supreme Court nominee despite allegations of sexual assault that remained uninvestigated, and at least three of his cabinet secretaries left under the cloud of corruption investigations: Tom Price at HHS, Scott Pruitt at EPA, and Ryan Zinke at Interior.
As we discussed last week, Trump’s demand for recess appointments is a way of breaking the Senate early on. Once they’ve bypassed the Constitutional dictate that they confirm the president’s appointees, there is no standing on principle to insist on strict adherence to the Constitution. It’s all a negotiation, with the rule of law up for grabs. The Senate can’t violate the advice and consent requirement of Article II, Section 2, and believe their decline stops there. Once they start down that unprincipled path, anything and everything can be there for the taking.
That’s why Republican Senators have to refuse to follow Trump’s order.
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None of Trump’s nominees should take office without a Senate vote. Senate Republicans may ultimately vote to confirm all of Trump’s nominees, but they are obligated to complete that process, and their votes should be a matter of public record.
We now live in a crazy world where Republicans, the supposed strict constructionists when it comes to the Constitution, must, as crazy as it sounds, admonish the leader of their party that even presidents have to follow the Constitution.
Where might we end up if they don’t? At the extremes, the prospects are frightening. A piece in the New York Times this morning started like this: “President-elect Donald J. Trump has mused more than once that he might like to extend his next stay at the White House. But can he run for re-election again in 2028 and seek a third term? The simple answer: No, the Constitution does not allow it.”
Not so fast.
Once the Constitution is just a bargaining chip, it’s all on the table. The idea of a third term in office has been with Trump for a while. During a September 2020 rally in Nevada, he told his followers he didn’t feel bound by term limits: “We’re going to win four more years in the White House,” he said. “And then after that, we’ll negotiate, right? Because we’re probably — based on the way we were treated — we are probably entitled to another four after that.” The Constitution, in Trump’s view, is up for negotiation. If Senate Republicans cave in on recess appointments, they confirm that it really is. It could be term limits, or anything else that Trump decides is inconvenient.
Post-election Trump is making it clear that he meant what he said during the campaign, whether it’s mass deportations, Project 2025, or completely rolling back preparations for climate change. And democracy is at stake. Instead of rolling over at Trump’s first run at them and permitting him to bypass the Constitutional command that they confirm his appointees, Senate Republicans should stand their ground, or they may find in the future that they have no ground left to stand on.
So, let’s not make the mistake of thinking the only reason Trump wants to use recess appointments is to get his team of deplorables confirmed. He’s not even back in office, but he’s already at work manipulating elected officials into a position where the Constitution can be tossed aside at will.
Pete Hegseth, Trump’s Secretary of Defense nominee, apparently withheld information from Trump before his nomination was announced about the deal he struck to pay off a woman who had accused him of sexual assault in exchange for a nondisclosure agreement. (Hegseth denies the assault.) Any other president would have their team direct a nominee who did this to withdraw his name from consideration. That would be perceived as essential, both to keep someone who is not trustworthy from holding office and to send a clear message to other potential nominees: Don’t lie. That’s not Trump’s reaction. In essence, by sticking with Hegseth, he’s saying it’s okay to lie to him as long as you’re loyal.
It’s almost as though Trump doesn't want a government made up of people with good character. Bad character is acceptable, maybe even preferable. And if past is prologue, despite the early uproar about picks like Hegseth, Tulsi Gabbard, and Matt Gaetz, the furor will die down, and in two months when they come up for a vote, Republican Senators may even set aside their opposition and do Trump’s bidding. We’ve seen that before.
Whatever the outcome, it’s essential that these nominees go through the confirmation process. There must be votes, not recess appointments—recess appointments following an artificial move to take a brand new Congress out of session so Trump can have his way while the nation’s business goes undone and its laws get unmade.
Once Republican Senators bypass one provision of the Constitution at Donald Trump’s behest, they’re all up for grabs.
It’s a somber moment.
We’re in this together,
Joyce
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