Ahead of Congress’s weeks-long August recess, Senator Thune and Speaker Johnson are ignoring demands from President Trump and his MAGA allies for either more Senate confirmations or an acquiescence to the president’s recess appointment power. Hundreds of nominees delayed by Democrats have been awaiting Senate confirmation. 

The recess appointment power is granted to the president by Article II of the Constitution, though the Supreme Court has limited exactly when or how those powers may be used. Mr. Trump and other conservatives have just in recent days started ringing the alarm about the lack of confirmations.

“The Senate shouldn’t recess before clearing the 135-nominee confirmation backlog,” Senator Lee wrote on X in a message which the president later posted to his own Truth Social platform. “If the Senate recesses anyway, it should actually recess — NO PRO FORMA SESSIONS, as their only purpose is to prevent Trump from making recess appointments.”

“Very Important. Republicans must play to win. Clear the 135. So badly needed!” the president wrote on Saturday, including a screenshot of Mr. Lee’s demand.

In order to guard their power, Senate leaders of both parties have long used what are known as pro forma sessions to keep presidents from making recess appointments. In those meetings of the Senate, a junior lawmaker typically gavels the chamber into session every three or four days for just a few minutes while the rest of the Senate is out of town. 

Those brief pro forma meetings essentially keep the Senate “in session,” meaning that presidents are continuously blocked from making recess appointments, even when the Senate is, in reality, gone for weeks at a time. 

In order for the Senate to go on a lengthy break which would allow the president to make recess appointments, senators would also require the approval of the House, according to the Adjournment Clause of Article I of the Constitution, which states that neither chamber of Congress may go out of session for more than three days “without the Consent of the other.”

The Senate is still scheduled to leave town on Friday and not return until Labor Day. The House adjourned for the August recess on Wednesday, and will not be back in session until September.

According to a report from Axios, Mr. Thune is considering holding Senate votes this coming weekend, though no plans have been finalized. 

The modern process for senators to block a president’s recess appointment power was laid out most clearly in a 2014 Supreme Court decision, NLRB v. Noel Canning. In a unanimous opinion, the court ruled that the Senate must be in recess for at least ten days before the president may make those appointments. 

Congressman Thomas Massie has pointed out that Speaker Johnson will, like Mr. Thune, be holding pro forma sessions for the House. “During August recess, Speaker Johnson and Leader Thune plan to call the House and Senate into session every four or five days, with practically no one there, for the sole purpose of preventing Trump from making recess appointments,” Mr. Massie wrote on X on Friday. 

Another House Republican, Congressman Greg Murphy, wrote in response to Mr. Massie that he should “Grow up dude” and stop complaining. Mr. Massie shot back, saying that the American people should know that the Republican-controlled Congress is blocking potential recess appointments.

“If I misrepresented why GOP leadership holds pro-forma sessions, please elaborate,” Mr. Massie wrote to his colleague. “The American people deserve to know that these gavel-in/gavel-out sessions of Congress are convened to prevent President Trump from ever making recess appointments.”

Congressman Chip Roy echoed those frustrations on Sunday. “The Senate has 3 choices,” Mr. Roy said in a post on X. “1) fully recess & allow POTUS to recess appoint. 2) NOT recess & do its job. 3) recess & do fake sessions to prevent recess appointments.  Only 1 & 2 are acceptable.”