By CONGRESSIONAL RESEARCH SERVICE
Under the Constitution, the President and the Senate share the power to make appointments to high-level politically appointed positions in the federal government. The Constitution also empowers the President unilaterally to make a temporary appointment to such a position if it is vacant and the Senate is in recess. Such an appointment, termed a recess appointment, expires at the end of the following session of the Senate. This report identifies recess appointments by President Barack Obama. The report discusses these appointments in the context of recess appointment authorities and practices generally, and it provides related statistics. Congressional actions to prevent recess appointments are also discussed.
President Obama made 32 recess appointments, all to full-time positions. During his presidency, President William J. Clinton made 139 recess appointments, 95 to full-time positions and 44 to part-time positions. President George W. Bush made 171 recess appointments, 99 to full-time positions and 72 to part-time positions.
Six of President Obama’s recess appointments were made during recesses between Congresses or between sessions of Congress (intersession recess appointments). The remaining 26 were made during recesses within sessions of Congress (intrasession recess appointments).
In each of the 32 instances in which President Obama made a recess appointment, the individual also was nominated to the position to which he or she was appointed. In all of these cases, a related nomination to the position preceded the recess appointment. In 20 of the 32 cases, the Senate later confirmed the nominee to the position to which he or she had been recess appointed. The nominations of the 12 remaining recess appointees were either returned to, or withdrawn by, the President.
Beginning in the 110th Congress, the Senate periodically used pro forma sessions to prevent the occurrence of a recess of more than three days. There appears to have been an expectation that this scheduling would block the President from making recess appointments, based on an argument that an absence of the Senate of three days or less would not constitute a “recess” long enough to permit the use of this authority.
In January 2012, President Obama made four recess appointments during a three-day recess between pro forma sessions of the Senate on January 3 and January 6, 2012, a period that was generally considered too short to permit recess appointments. The recess during which the President made the appointments was part of a period of Senate absence that, absent the pro forma sessions, would have constituted an intrasession adjournment of 10 days or longer.
In an opinion regarding the lawfulness of these appointments, the Office of Legal Counsel at the Department of Justice argued that “the President may determine that pro forma sessions at which no business is to be conducted do not interrupt a Senate recess for the purposes of the Recess Appointments Clause.” The U.S. Supreme Court later concluded otherwise in a case regarding three of the four appointments. It held that, for purposes of the Clause, “the Senate is in session when it says it is, provided that, under its own rules, it retains the capacity to transact Senate business.” The three recess appointments at issue were found to be constitutionally invalid.
In Trump’s case, you force both houses of Congress to adjourn, and then you make the appointments yourself and approve them yourself and circumnavigate the procedure.
This all fits into king trump and
his narcissism and I think it will lead to his demise. Trump supporters don’t know what they were getting into, but in the case of the devil, he’s the master trickster. He will have his judgment day, just like hitler’s henchmen had nuremberg.
Respectfully, Mr. Forkner, where did the original Greg Forkner go? When I started reading your comments years ago, I was impressed and thought you were a good conservative without being too radical. I’ve watched your Trump Derangement Syndrome take over and your comments leaning more and more to the left. It doesn’t seem like the same person in any way. I’m having a hard time putting the two different things together. I joked to my husband that maybe Mr. Forkner died and his widow was a leftist and posting under his name.
I am with you there Gretchen. Greg has turned into nothing more than another member of the View when it comes to Trump.
Every headline bashing Trump is reality in his eyes. Greg sees every out of context quote from Trump is more proof Trump will be a dictator. And, trying to actually talk reason is rejected.
That’s because there’s content in everything I say. Now it’s coming out that matt use to show pictures of his little teeny bopper girl conquests on the floor of the house and brag how he used to take viagra and slam down energy drinks so that he could go all night. So there’s a little bit more than just me disliking. Trump, it’s about basically…lol….Everything trump does turns to feces.
You seem to be the only one with any sense so far in the cpo. I don’t know if they’re uninformed or brainwashed either way I’m sick of it. He’s attempting to dismantle all of our institutions with unqualified corrupt loyalist with NO interest in what’s best for or protecting our county’s best interest or safety. I guess they don’t like NATO either and are ok with Polio. Brilliant!
Well, this is a right leaning blog so take that into consideration. It amazes me that most are blinded by party lines.
Well said Gretchen! Would Mr. Forkner rather have Queen Kamala in charge (or her puppet masters) I think not. The media has told such lies about Trump that it disgusts me and therefore has influenced the left in the wrong way
I didn’t support her. It’s the truths about Trump that scares me
That’s funny right there. I’m still a conservative. Still own guns, hate baby killers, the Clinton’s, and big government. What’s changed is, the hatred I see in the nation. No longer can we talk without insults. Trump has caused this with his bitterness. He may have been mistreated, but the jury is still out. The real Trump is coming out and I’m embarrassed that I voted for him twice. Given enough time, he has shown us his real colors. He is all about himself, not the nation unless the two align.
Gretchen: Well said regarding Greg F. Your observations reflect what many of us have wondered about his insightful comments, especially those about DJT.
Well now you know. I refuse to sell my morals to the highest bidder.
Blah, blah blah!!
You do remember that we already lived through a Trump term right?
You should also remember that both Bush 41 & 43 were called hitler etc. as well and it was as much a lie then as it is now.
Recess appointments are a fact and have a long history. They are a TEMPORARY appointment! Many presidents have used them to fill positions.
A president can NOT force Congress to adjourn!
Remember the co-equal branch of government and separation of powers in our constitution……?
It is further troubling that you apparently have no issues with the vast number of executive orders from our current office holder, which are clearly designed to circumvent congress and alter established law!
It is also apparent that you really only know buzzwords not the actual history of the Third Reich, Weimar Republic, Treaty of Versailles and WWI & WWII
Yes, I know that the Supreme Court has ruled that only the Senate can decide if they are in session, and appointments were nullified. It doesn’t take away the fact that Trump has said he would to to circumnavigate the constitution. He hates it.
Yikes, Greg take a breath and conscientiously examine your sources. It more and more appears as if rational thought has left you and your entire existence is hating Trump. How sad!
You know context is everything:
“…..A Massive Fraud of this type and magnitude allows for the termination of all rules, regulations, and articles, even those found in the Constitution,” Trump wrote in a post on the social network Truth Social and accused “Big Tech” of working closely with Democrats.” (Hunter’s laptop anyone??)
(Source CNN Dec. 2022)
In other words if they massively cheat the rules can no longer be valid for anyone. He was talking about the 2020 election.
BTW “circumnavigate” conjures up images of Magellan or Capt. Cook in their ships sailing around the globe, not end-runs around the rule of law….just saying!
Still apply.
Greg
I voted for Trump to clean up the mess. And you’re gonna get dirty clean up the mess. Either you’re part of the solution to fix the mess or your part of the solution causing the mess. Get on one side or the other Trump is not the perfect guy, but if you look back, nobody running for president been the perfect guy for a long, long time, they force us to pick the lesser of the two evils.
Yes, he’s far from perfect. Paid hookers, lied, business dealings, vulger, certainly isn’t presidential.
Wow Greg.
If you don’t want to succeed in life, then more power to you.
The rest of are are Making America Great Again, with or without you.
Your choice.
I just don’t want a tyrant or king with a chip on his shoulder. Others see his dirt through the whitewashing. It’s easy to see if you look.
I don’t want tariffs, and Trump flipped on many views including abortion. Honestly, it depends on which way the wind is blowing on any given day.
Greg, Did you not notice when reading the article that this practice of recess appointments has been used excessively in the past by both Republican and Democrat presidents? And yet you speak of circumnavigating the procedure blaming Trump’s desire to use this well worn tool to his agenda advantage on narcissism? Was it Obama’s narcissism that caused him to do this? Clinton? Bush? Please do not devolve into simpleton name calling and character assassination. You so much more capacity than that.
I did and do. Those president’s didn’t have a vendetta. Weren’t impeached twice, felons etc
The article doesn’t mention the number of recess appointments Trump was allowed to make during his first term, which was zero. Good ol’ Mitch McConnell ensured the Senate conducted pro forma sessions from the very beginning of Trump’s term in order to stop Trump from making recess appointments. Each pro forma session has to be gaveled in and out by a U.S. Senator. Who was the first Senator to conduct the first pro forma session during Trump’s term? Why, it was our very own Lisa Murkowski !!!
Trump and his handlers won’t make the same mistake twice.
Or more fitting, his appointments will no doubt, benefit all Americans, including yourself, so maybe you should stop projecting your own braggadocio, and just sit down and shut up!
Enough already …
I hope you’re right. Shutting up isn’t likely though.
I hope that he waits until after Thune oversees a Pro Forma session and then makes them all recess appointments.
Mr. Forkner saz “Trump supporters don’t know what they were getting into….”
Maybe. But I know where we’ve been the last 4 years.
market up, gold way up, 401k to the moon, I’m good.
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