Recess Appointments Could Put Trump At Odds With Conservatives On The Supreme Court

Republicans will control the White House and both houses of Congress come January.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Republicans will control the White House and both houses of Congress come January. But President-elect Donald Trump’s intent to nominate loyalists to fill key Cabinet posts has set up a possible confrontation with the Senate, which has the constitutional responsibility for “advice and consent” on presidential nominees.

Trump and his Republican allies are talking about going around the Senate and using temporary recess appointments, which last no more than two years.

Invoking that authority could result in a fight that lands at the Supreme Court. Trump might also have to claim another, never-before-used power to force the Senate into a recess, if it won’t agree to one.

Supreme Court has decided only one recess appointment case.

In its 234 years, the Supreme Court has decided only one case involving recess appointments. In 2014, the justices unanimously ruled that Democratic President Barack Obama’s recess appointments to the National Labor Relations Board were illegal.