What Are ‘Recess Appointments’ and How Might Trump Try and Leverage Them?

• Nov. 19, 2024Updated 2:28 p.m. ET

President-elect Donald J. Trump’s rapid move to stock his administration with loyalists, some viewed with skepticism even by members of his own party, is testing both his grip on Senate Republicans and the boundaries of executive power.

Mr. Trump has made it clear that he wants the option of going around the Senate to install cabinet and other appointees without the chamber’s approval. He could do so with what is known as a “recess appointment,” which allows a president to act on his own when the Senate is not in session.

But it is not clear whether Republican senators would go along with that plan by going out of session at Mr. Trump’s request. Some of them have raised particular alarm at the selection of former Representative Matt Gaetz of Florida, the ethics-challenged, hard-right firebrand who has a habit of insulting fellow Republican lawmakers, for attorney general.

Mr. Trump could try to force the issue, invoking an untested clause of the Constitution that could be challenged and even end up before the Supreme Court.

Here’s how it works.

Recess appointments were meant to be a logistical fail-safe.

Article II of the Constitution says that the president can name officials “by and with the advice and consent of the Senate.” That has been interpreted for centuries to mean that the chamber is responsible for vetting and ultimately confirming the president’s nominees.

But when the Constitution was written in the country’s early days, travel was by horse, and the Senate often was out of session for weeks or months at a time. If a critical vacancy arose, senators could not necessarily convene quickly to confirm a replacement. So the founders included an exception that allowed the president to fill vacancies that arose during a recess without any action by the Senate.