President-elect Donald Trump unveiled a slate of high-profile nominees for his incoming administration on Wednesday, naming Sen. Marco Rubio as secretary of State, former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard as director of national intelligence, and Rep. Matt Gaetz as attorney general. While Rubio’s confirmation is expected to move smoothly, Gabbard and Gaetz face potential hurdles due to their controversial records.
Gabbard has previously faced criticism for her past friendly remarks on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, while Gaetz is under scrutiny over past allegations of misconduct, drug use, and improper gift acceptance. The contentious nominations are already drawing speculation about how Trump might maneuver around expected Senate opposition.
According to conservative legal analyst Ed Whelan, Trump could potentially bypass the Senate confirmation process by exploiting a rarely used constitutional clause. Whelan, a former president of the Ethics and Public Policy Center, floated the idea that Trump might use Article II, Section 3 of the Constitution, which allows the president to adjourn Congress under specific circumstances.
“Hope it’s wrong, but I’m hearing through the grapevine about this bonkers plan: Trump would adjourn both Houses of Congress under Article II, section 3, and then recess-appoint his Cabinet,” Whelan posted on X. He explained that the move would require Speaker of the House Mike Johnson’s cooperation to create a “disagreement” between the House and Senate over adjournment timing, thus enabling Trump to adjourn both chambers and make unilateral recess appointments without Congressional confirmation.
Whelan called on Johnson to “say NO to this right away,” arguing that such a strategy could undercut the Senate’s constitutional role of advice and consent.
This unconventional approach would be grounded in Article II, Section 3, which states, “He [the president] shall from time to time give to the Congress Information of the State of the Union, and recommend to their Consideration such Measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient; he may, on extraordinary Occasions, convene both Houses, or either of them, and in Case of Disagreement between them, with Respect to the Time of Adjournment, he may adjourn them to such Time as he shall think proper.”
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3 Responses
Right
And Kamala will be president for two weeks so she doesn’t have to make trump officially president
Even great software has occasional bugs. I suppose that the writers of the constitution did not foresee such a crazy turn of events, but hey, if that’s the code, if that’s how the law is currently formulated, then I guess this maneuver will work. Perhaps it’s not too late for the current Congress to fix this bug before it’s exploited…. Of course that would require willingness on the part of the GOP to sacrifice some of their own immediate interests for the long-term interests and stability of the system.
Pulling a stunt like that would cripple Trump’s administration, and leave him without a reliable majority in Congress (“RINOs” hold the balance in both houses – all they have to do is abstain and Trump no longer has a majority in either House). Note that without approval of the majority of the House, the president can’t legally spend money (which is part of the reason no president ever tried such a stunt). The most likely result of such an attempt is the non-MAGA Republicans, with or without the help of the anti-WOKE Democrats, would split off, depriving Trump of control of either House of the Congress.