What are Recess Appointments, and Could Trump Use Them to Fill His Cabinet?

President-elect Trump is reportedly pushing for recess appointments so he can fill his cabinet without Senate confirmation. 

What Are Recess Appointments?: Traditionally, when someone is nominated for a cabinet position, they are confirmed by the Senate and appointed. Senate confirmations can take time as the nominees are referred to the appropriate Senate committees, which conduct their own vetting process before the vote. During Trump's last term, only 320 of his appointments were confirmed during his first year. Recess appointments enable the president to appoint nominees when the Senate is out of session or "in recess." Recess appointees are not given a salary until confirmed by the Senate and serve until the end of the Senate's following session. After 2026, the nominees would have to be appointed again by Trump during another recess or be nominated and confirmed by the senate.

Pros and Cons: Paul du Quenoy argued in Newsweek (Center bias) that recess appointments would enable Trump to hit the ground running. Trump has promised to resolve conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East and to do so he "will need not only top officials in his cabinet, but assistant and deputy secretaries of state and defense, ambassadors, special envoys, and others who would normally require Senate confirmation, a process that usually takes months," Quenoy added. Others see Trump's push for recess appointments as an overreach that breaks norms and bypasses checks and balances in order to get his more controversial picks appointed without objection. 

How Likely is It?: In order to call a Senate recess, majorities of the House and Senate must vote to adjourn for more than three days. While Incoming Senate Majority Leader John Thune said the option is “on the table,” it may be difficult to convince senators who might object to some of the appointments. The President does have the constitutional power to force adjournment in the case that the House and Senate disagree about the time of the adjournment, but it has never been exercised. An opinion in The Wall Street Journal (Lean Right bias) argued that even if the Senate adjourns voluntarily, the Supreme Court has precedent to strike down Trump's appointments.