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No, Trump can’t just ‘fire’ the Senate.

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Donald Trump hasn’t even returned to office yet. And a constitutional crisis may have already occurred. Trump has begun announcing the people he intends to nominate for the new administration. That is his prerogative. Several senators criticized some of Trump’s decisions, namely: their privilege (and two Trump nominees have already withdrawn under pressure), but There are rumors spreading. of Trump’s plan to completely remove the Senate With every effort being made to get the nominees into office. There is no way to do this in a consistent way with the content. history and the structure of the constitution

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The Constitution and law require Senate approval of the most important government positions, such as the attorney general or secretary of state. All of which exercise special power on behalf of the public. Senate participation helps ensure that people in these jobs have the necessary competence and integrity. In Alexander Hamilton’s apartment. wordThe Senate can prevent appointments. “Inappropriate characters” which will only be The “flattering tool” of the president’s “happiness”

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Senate scrutiny of the president can lead to conflict and frustration at the start of an administration. Meanwhile, the new president’s nominees are considered and sometimes even rejected by the Senate. Guidance and consent take time. But as Judge Louis Brandeis famously observed it. There are checks and balances. “It is not to promote efficiency. but to prevent the arbitrary exercise of power” is the purpose of the Constitution. “Not to avoid conflict,” but “to save the people from dictatorship.”

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That is why attempts to cut the Senate out of the appointment process could be problematic. It is a complete affront to constitutional self-government. Trump’s supporters have made suggestions. Two ways to circumvent the Senate’s advice-and-consent process The Senate initially voted to go into recess shortly after Trump’s inauguration. Make him able to make appointments “Break period” can only be done by one side. That plan might be officially legal. But it’s clearly inappropriate. The president is allowed to make appointments for “Ensure the continued functioning of the federal government in the Senate’s absence,” as Justice Stephen Breyer write of the Supreme Court in 2014. Such a mechanism is important in an era when the Senate is often absent from the capital for months at a time and cannot reconvene quickly and easily. But as Breyer also noted, The constitution does not provide It “regularly grants the president authority to avoid the need for Senate confirmation” for the Senate to go into recess at the start of a new administration, with the sole purpose of allowing the president to fill out the government. as he wishes—all while the Senate is controlled by the president’s party and perfectly able to consider nominees— It would be a clear misuse of the power to appoint a suspension. Happily, the new Senate appears to agree. irritable Following Trump’s request to grant gentler privileges

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As a result, some parts of the House of Representatives began to discuss A more serious plan One Trump Considered during the first agenda: Trump may send the Senate home against his will and replace the government during This is clearly against the law.

One might ask, how will such a plan work? In the end Presidents are not like real kings. No authority to send Parliament whenever he wanted. Three of the first six “abuses and usurpations” charged in the Declaration of Independence related to King George III’s treatment of the legislature: he had “several times dissolved the House of Representatives”; he refused to Held elections after these “dissolutions” and he had ” convened the legislature” in a “remote” and “awkward” place. The Framers were careful not to entrust the new presidency with such powerful tools as “Dictatorship” The president, on the other hand, is given the authority to “adjourn” Congress in only narrow circumstances: “in cases of disagreement between the two.” with respect to the time of adjournment” This power is so limited that it has never been used in American history.

at The idea of ​​the Republican House It seems to cause “Conflict” in order to create this power of postponement. First, the House of Representatives will pass a resolution granting deferment. The Senate will refuse to pass the vote (in all likelihood) and then Trump will declare that both houses He “disagrees” and postpones both houses for as long as he wants. Then he will start enjoying his appointments during breaks. There is one obvious problem: the “conflict” in this scenario is an illusion.

under the constitution Each house can decide for itself how long to sit, as Thomas Jefferson Ann expert in the legislative process write In 1790: “Each House of Congress has the inherent right of self-government. and thus have their own times and places of meeting.”

The Constitution limits this autonomy in one important way: “During the sessions of Congress, Neither House shall adjourn for more than three days without the consent of the other. or to any other place than the place where both Houses of Parliament are situated and are sitting.” In other words, if any House of Congress desires leave During the meeting, permission from the other household must be obtained first. The House of Representatives cannot skip town if the Senate thinks its important legislative business remains. But note that this provision limits the power of each house to “postponed” And it is not the power of each house to continue to “sit”. Both houses do not need to receive agreement from the other. live In session, if the Senate wants the House of Representatives out while an appointment or treaty is being considered, that’s fine, in fact there are plenty. example One house allows another to go home. According to Section 1, each house must have the consent of the other. give upBut you don’t have to. sit

So the problem for the House of Representatives plan is If the House of Representatives wants to stop The Senate can allow that to happen. And if the Senate agrees to release the House The House could simply leave, and there would be no relevant “conflict” for the president to resolve by adjourning Congress. The Senate remains in regular session.

The power of presidential promotion is not a secret method. For one Congress to force another to close itself against its will, if both The Senate and House want to leave office. But they could not agree on a “postponement time”. The president can go in. In the words of a 19th century article by Justice Joseph Story, presidential intervention in such situations is “The only way is to end the conflict. That can lead to nothing but public confusion in the House.” Perhaps if one faction of Congress wanted to leave the House But the other House would not allow Congress to be held hostage in the capital. The president can step in and resolve the conflict by freeing the desired house from parliament. During the ratification debate in Virginia, James Monroe ask Whether it is appropriate or not “That members of the House of Representatives should depend on the Senate” because they were prevented from “going home” without the consent of the Senate. James Madison responded by pointing to the president’s promotion power.

What House Republicans seem to suggest is a world away from those situations—it’s closer to the power of delegation or dissolution claimed by the British Crown and reviled by the founders. Simply put, the House of Representatives does not. They can collude with the president to deprive the Senate of its authority to advise and consent to appointments. That would be a mockery of the content and structure of the Constitution. If the council tries to use this method The Senate should resist by holding further sessions. And the court should refuse to accept any appointments. that is the consequence The threat to adjourn the Senate should be seen and called for for what it is: a totalitarian move that is not only illegal. But it is also an insult to the constitution.

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