The US president-elect, Donald Trump, asked senators on Sunday, November 10, to exempt him from their approval, in principle mandatory, to name the highest officials of his future administration.
An article of the US Constitution allows the president to make appointments without the approval of the Senate when it is not in session. However, this provision is rarely activated, since senators usually meet at the time of nominations and thus exercise their power of control over the executive.
The Republican Party has regained the majority in the Senate, which will convene in January to be sworn in, but elected Democrats could still slow down the process of approving nominations.
“Sometimes votes can take two years or more. This is what they “We did it four years ago and we can’t let it happen again.”protested on Sunday against X the elected president. “Any Republican senator seeking the coveted leadership position in the United States Senate must accept nominations” outside parliamentary sessions, he added.
Support from Republican senators
The three senators who were campaigning for this position reacted by supporting Donald Trump’s request. “100% agree. I will do my best to ensure that your nominations [soient approuvées] as quickly as possible »wrote Rick Scott, Florida’s senator-elect, backed by billionaires Vivek Ramaswamy and Elon Musk and other allies of Donald Trump to oversee the party’s elected officials in the Senate.
“We must act quickly and decisively to ensure that the president’s appointments are approved and that all options are on the table, including appointment during a parliamentary recess”declared John Thune, elected from South Dakota and current number two Republican in the Senate.
“It is unacceptable that Democratic senators block” nominations, said John Cornyn of Texas. “If they do, we will remain in session even on weekends until they relent. And the Constitution gives the president the power to make appointments during the recess.”he added.
The United States Senate examines and confirms by vote, first in committee and then in plenary session, the appointments of ministers and their deputies, but also of ambassadors, of the military, of the directors of multiple federal agencies and of the judges, particularly those of the Supreme Court. “No judge should be approved” before Republicans elect their leader and take office in the Senate, Donald Trump added on Sunday.
