President Trump threatened to use an obscure rule to shut down both chambers of Congress to allow him to fill vacancies in his administration without Senate approval.
I thought they were shut down. They aren’t getting much done and Pelosi isn’t bringing the House back until the first week of May — maybe.
We should dock their pay.
Trump cited a never-exercised power the Constitution grants the president to adjourn Congress if leaders of the House and Senate canโt agree on whether to adjourn. The Senate often recesses but stays open in a โpro formaโ session, which prevents Trump from making recess appointments that bypass the regular confirmation process.
โThe 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. It is a scam. What they do, itโs a scam and everybody knows it,โ Trump said.
Trump needs Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) to go along with adjourning and even then it would still be nearly impossible to get the votes needed to formally adjourn.
McConnellโs office declined to comment. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) did not respond.
โThey know theyโve been warned and theyโve been warned right now. If they donโt approve it, then weโre going to go this route and weโll probably be challenged in court and weโll see who wins,โ Trump said when asked if thereโs a timeline on his threat.
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