President Trump said he is open to using recess appointments to get his Cabinet appointees confirmed if delays keep emerging in the Senate.
“I’d take a look at that,” Mr. Trump told reporters Thursday. “I’d listen to [Senate Majority Leader] John Thune. He’s doing a fantastic job. We’re moving on.”
“The Democrats are trying to delay government, as they always do,” the president said. “They can’t help themselves.”
The Senate on Thursday confirmed John Ratcliffe, Mr. Trump’s pick for CIA director, but Mr. Trump said it took too long to confirm him. The president was sworn in on Monday.
“They’re maxing everything out so they can delay everything as long as possible,” he said of Senate Democrats.
Ultimately, the president said he would leave the decision up to Mr. Thune.
Mr. Thune, speaking with reporters after he and other GOP leaders met with Mr. Trump on Tuesday, demurred when asked about reports that the president used part of the meeting to prod Republicans to consider recess appointments.
“Obviously that’s something, as you know, he’s expressed an interest in in the past,” the South Dakota Republican said. “I think we’re going to find out here fairly quickly, you know, whether or not the Democrats want to help us get through some of these nominations in a way that gets us back on track with the way it was done prior to the last two presidencies.”
Senate confirmations of Cabinet nominees were slow during Mr. Trump’s first term and President Biden’s tenure. Mr. Thune wants to return to the quicker pace set during Barack Obama’s presidency, when the Senate confirmed 12 of his Cabinet secretaries within 15 days of him taking office.
Senate Republican Whip John Barrasso of Wyoming told reporters Thursday that even with Democrats delaying quick action on Trump nominees, recess appointments are not necessary. The Senate can grind it out, working nights and weekends, to confirm the nominees, he said.
“We have planned here in the schedule to not be on recess for a long time,” he said of the 10 straight weeks of session that the Senate built into its early 2025 calendar to process Trump’s nominees. “We’re going to get these confirmed with the Senate voting on each one of them. The president deserves to have his Cabinet in place.”
Under the Constitution, Mr. Trump can adjourn Congress to make recess appointments if he feels the Senate is taking too long to confirm his appointees.
The Senate has already confirmed Mr. Ratcliffe and Marco Rubio, whom Mr. Trump chose as secretary of state. But others are still awaiting action, such as Pete Hegseth, Mr. Trump’s pick for secretary of defense, and Kristi Noem, the president’s pick for Homeland Security secretary, among others.
• Lindsey McPherson can be reached at lmcpherson@washingtontimes.com.
• Mallory Wilson can be reached at mwilson@washingtontimes.com.