Trump wants to appoint ministers without Senate approval

Donald Trump wants to use his control over the Republican Party to appoint ministers as president without Senate approval. To do this, he wants to resort to an exception that allows US heads of state to temporarily appoint cabinet members during at least ten-day breaks in Senate sessions. You can then remain in office for months.

Every Republican senator who wants to become majority leader in the congressional chamber must agree to this, Trump wrote on Sunday (local time) on the online platform X. Several promising candidates for the post quickly agreed to do so.

When filling cabinet positions in the USA, the approval of the Senate is generally necessary. Before that, the president’s nominees must go through Senate committees.

At the same time, the head of state has the right to temporarily appoint ministers during breaks in the Senate’s meetings. This is intended to ensure the government’s ability to act. The ministers appointed in this way must then be confirmed by the Senate by the end of the session in order to remain in office. In practice, this means they can potentially hold the position for up to two years.

US presidents have rarely taken this route – and there have been disputes over such appointments in the past. A legal dispute over President Barack Obama’s appointment to a post in 2012 led to the US Supreme Court setting the minimum length of Senate recess for such appointments at ten days. Since then, the Senate has routinely held so-called pro forma meetings during breaks, which prevent the president from filling positions on his own.

In Tuesday’s election, the Republicans already secured a majority in the Senate with at least 53 of the 100 seats. In one seat it is still unclear who will win. However, even in the minority, the Democrats could delay the appointment process in the relevant committees.

Trump wrote that the cabinet positions must be filled as quickly as possible. And for this, the so-called recess appointments are necessary during the meeting breaks. Senator Rick Scott of Florida, considered the leading candidate for Senate majority leader, immediately wrote that he agreed 100 percent. The other applicants John Thune and John Cornyn were also open to it. For Trump’s plan to work, the Republican majority in the Senate would have to decide on a break of more than ten days without any meetings in between.