Senate GOP eyes recess appointments as stalemate drags on
Why it matters: Senate leaders and the White House are still negotiating on a deal to end the standoff. But skipping town and letting President Trump speed-run his nomination list is an increasingly attractive option, some GOP senators told Axios.
"The Senate should immediately adjourn and let President Trump use recess appointments to enact the agenda 77M Americans voted for," Sen. Roger Marshall (R-Kansas) posted on Saturday.
Recess appointments, as well as using the nuclear option to change chamber rules with a simple majority to expedite the confirmation process, are becoming real possibilities as talks drag into the evening.
The Senate is in session on an August weekend voting on nominations, as Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.), Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and the White House struggle to find a compromise.
How it works: Recess appointments would give Trump leeway to jam through numerous nominees without having to go through the usual Senate confirmation process.
The Senate would have to agree to adjourn with a majority vote, and the House also would have to come back into town and agree to adjourn and cancel scheduled pro-forma days.
Those nominees would only be able to serve through the end of 2026 — and without payment.
Zoom in: Schumer wants the White House to release withheld federal funding in exchange for passing a small batch of uncontroversial nominees, per a source familiar.
Democrats are also willing to commit to another batch later in the year — but only if it is formally written into an agreement that the deal is off if the White House so much as sends over another rescissions package.
Republicans continue to point out that Democratic stonewalling is unprecedented. Typically, even the minority party ultimately allows some level of deference to the party in power and allows lower-level nominations to move more quickly.
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