WASHINGTON — Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, is urging his Senate colleagues to cancel August recess and continue confirming President Donald Trump’s administrative and judicial nominees — or leave town completely to allow the president to appoint his chosen candidates without Senate approval.
The Senate is scheduled to adjourn on Friday for its annual August recess, during which senators return to their home states to meet with constituents and attend to local business. Lawmakers are not expected to return until after the Labor Day holiday, resulting in a period of little to no progress on the national stage.
That’s put some increased pressure on Republican leaders in the Senate as Trump has urged them to clear all pending nominations before heading home — a tall task, as Democrats have used every tool at their disposal to delay the process.
In a statement to the Deseret News, Lee said he doesn’t want Republicans to just ignore the backlog issue.
“Bottom line: There are many ways to address the backlog. Rather than insisting on any particular approach, I’m demanding that we address it by outlining a few options,” he said. “As far as the August recess, we can’t just pretend that everything is fine when we have a 135-person backlog on the Senate’s confirmation calendar.”
Lee repeatedly posted on X over the weekend calling on his colleagues to cancel the upcoming recess, using the hashtag #ClearThe135 as a reference to the number of Trump nominees currently pending approval.
If Republicans don’t cancel recess, Lee said, Republicans should hand the reins over to Trump to confirm the nominees on his own.
“Tell your senators to either … stay & get the job done, confirming the 135 Trump nominees pending in the Senate, or … recess & let President Trump make recess appointments, as authorized by the Constitution,” Lee wrote in a post. “The obstruction & the Deep State™️ rule it produces must end now.”
While the Senate is tasked with overseeing nominees and presidential appointments, there are procedural loopholes in place to allow Trump to unilaterally construct his administration. Trump is authorized to establish what are known as recess appointments, which allow the president to temporarily fill vacancies without Senate confirmation.
However, even with the scheduled break, that would require approval from both chambers of Congress.
During the August work period, both the House and Senate meet every few days in what are called “pro forma” sessions. No work is done during these meetings, but they are required by the Constitution to occur every four or five days — interfering with the requirement to be in recess for at least 10 days before Trump can appoint nominees on his own.
To bypass those meetings, the House and Senate would need to vote to approve the longer absences — meaning the House would need to return from its recess, which began last week, to approve the Senate for an elongated recess.
“The Senate shouldn’t recess before clearing the 135-nominee confirmation backlog,” Lee said in another post on X. “If the Senate recesses anyway, it should *actually* recess—NO PRO FORMA SESSIONS, as their only purpose is to prevent Trump from making recess appointments. The Senate can’t have it both ways.”
Lee’s post caught the attention of Trump, who reposted the Utah senator on Truth Social with the caption: “Very Important. Republicans must play to win. Clear the 135. So badly needed!”
A handful of other Senate Republicans, such as Sen. Chuck Grassley, of Iowa, have also expressed a willingness to remain in Washington over the recess period.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., has indicated that he is considering whether to cancel the August recess, although no formal decision has been made.
Although recess appointments have not been utilized in several years, they are not uncommon. Former President Barack Obama confirmed more than 30 that way, and former presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton each approved more than 100 appointees through the recess process.
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