WASHINGTON — Days before Republicans in the Senate choose their new leaderPresident-elect Donald Trump is putting pressure on the candidates to change the rules and give him the power to appoint some nominees without a vote in the Senate.
Republican Senators John Thune of South Dakota, John Cornyn of Texas and Rick Scott of Florida are competing in a secret ballot election Wednesday to lead the GOP conference and replace longtime GOP leader Mitch McConnell, who step aside after almost twenty years from his job. All three have enlisted Trump’s support in the race and are competing to show who is closest to the president-elect in their campaign to become majority leader.
Trump has not endorsed the race, but on Sunday he made clear that he expects the new leader to bypass regular Senate rule if necessary so he can quickly fill his Cabinet. In a statement on X and Truth Social, Trump said the next leader “must agree” to allow him to make appointments when the House is in recess, bypassing a confirmation vote.
“Every Republican Senator seeking the coveted LEADERSHIP position in the United States Senate must agree to Recess Appointments (in the Senate!), without which we cannot get people confirmed in a timely manner,” Trump said, adding that positions “IMMEDIATELY!” be filled!
The Senate has no longer allowed presidents to make so-called recess appointments since a 2014 Supreme Court ruling limited the president’s power to that. Since then, the Senate has held short “pro forma” sessions when it has been out of town for more than 10 days, so that a president cannot take advantage of the absence and begin filling unconfirmed posts.
But with Trump’s approval at the forefront of the race, all three candidates quickly suggested they might be willing to reconsider the practice. Scott replied to Trump: “100% agree. I will do everything I can to get your nominations through as quickly as possible.” And Thune said in a statement that they must act “swiftly and decisively” to put nominees in place and that “all options are on the table to make that happen, including recess appointments.”
Cornyn said: “It is unacceptable for the Senate to block the president @realDonaldTrump ‘s cabinet appointments. If they do that, we will stay in session, even on weekends, until they give in.” He noted that recess appointments are allowed under the Constitution.
The social media exchange on Sunday became a first test for the three candidates since Trump was decisively elected to a second term last week.
Trump’s relationship with Congress — especially the advice-and-consent role afforded to the Senate when it comes to appointments — was tumultuous during his first term, as he chafed at opposition to his selections and sought ways to deal with lawmakers to go. As Trump enters a second term, emboldened by his landslide election victory, he is already signaling that he expects Senate Republicans, and by extension their new leader, to rally behind his Cabinet choices.
Trump also posted Sunday that the Senate should not confirm judges in the weeks before Republicans take office next year — a more difficult demand to fulfill because Democrats will control the floor and retain the majority vote until the new Congress is sworn in. on January 3. Trump posted that “the Democrats want to push their judges while the Republicans fight for leadership. THIS IS NOT ACCEPTABLE.”
With just days to go, the race for Republican leader in the Senate is in full swing.
Thune and Cornyn are both well-liked, longtime senators who have served as McConnell’s surrogates and are seen as front-runners despite previous statements criticizing Trump. Scott — a longtime friend of Trump and a fierce ally — is seen as more of a long shot, but he has waged an aggressive campaign on social media and elsewhere in recent days with the aim of winning Trump’s support.
Senators close to Trump, such as Mike Lee of Utah and Marco Rubio of Florida, have endorsed Scott, as have tech mogul Elon Musk and others who have Trump’s ear.
“We have to be the change,” Scott said on Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures.” “That’s what Donald Trump was elected for, to be the change.”
All three candidates promise to be more open and transparent than McConnell and to give senators more power to bring up their priorities. They have also tried to make clear that they would have a very different relationship with Trump than McConnell, who once called the former president a “despicable human being.” behind closed doors.
As the Senate negotiates to fill Trump’s Cabinet, many of his allies are campaigning for the nominations. Former GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy said on ABC’s “This Week” that there are “some great options on the table.” Sen. Bill Hagerty, a Tennessee Republican who served as U.S. ambassador to Japan from 2017 to 2019, said on CBS’s “Face the Nation” that one of his greatest honors was representing the Trump administration abroad. He said he would “advance the positions that President Trump has expressed.”
“I will do that in whatever role I take,” said Hagerty, who has endorsed Scott in the leadership race.
Although Trump has made public just one personnel move so far, naming Susie Wiles as his chief of staff, he has already ruled out two names for top positions.
Trump said Saturday he would not invite Mike Pompeo, his former U.S. secretary of state and CIA chief, and Nikki Haley, a former South Carolina governor who served as his U.N. ambassador and challenged him for the Republican nomination. Pompeo joined Trump the night before Election Day.
“I have thoroughly enjoyed and appreciated working with them previously, and I would like to thank them for their service to our country,” Trump wrote on his network Truth Social.
Trump’s son, Donald Trump Jr., posted on X from podcaster Dave Smith suggesting pressure to “keep all neoconservatives and war hawks out of the Trump administration.”
“The ‘stop Pompeo’ movement is great, but it’s not enough,” Smith wrote on X. “America First: fuck the war machine!”
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Gomez Licon reported from Miami.