President Donald Trump on Wednesday threatened to adjourn Congress in order to appoint judges and other federal officials to help deal with the coronavirus crisis.
“If the House will not agree to that adjournment, I will exercise my constitutional authority to adjourn both chambers of Congress. The current practice of leaving town while conducting phony pro forma sessions is a dereliction of duty that the American people cannot afford during this crisis,” Trump said at a White House briefing. “It is a scam what they do.”
“Perhaps it’s never been done before. Nobody’s even sure if it has. But we’re going to do it,” Trump said. “We need these people here.”
Many federal positions require Senate approval, and when the chamber is not in session, presidents can make “recess appointments.” The move sometimes draws criticism from the opposing party, but the action is not unusual (President Barack Obama made more than 30 such appointments during his two terms).
Both chambers hold what are known as pro forma sessions, a process Republicans used often to prevent Obama from temporarily filling vacancies without approval by the Senate. The Senate can shut down and senators can even go home while the chamber is technically in session. – READ MORE
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