A first stress test

Trump wants to appoint ministers in a fast-track procedure

Donald Trump wants to proceed differently than in 2016.

(Bild: AP ( via APA) Austria Presse Agentur/David Goldman)

Donald Trump has announced that he wants to appoint ministers on his own initiative. Cabinet members normally have to go through an application process in the Senate. The Republican now has another idea that is likely to cause controversy ...

Trump wants to make use of an exception that allows US heads of state to temporarily appoint cabinet members during at least ten-day recesses of the Senate.

Every Republican senator who wants to become majority leader in the chamber of Congress must agree to this, Trump wrote on the online platform X on Sunday (local time). Several promising candidates for the post quickly declared their willingness to do so.

Democrats could block
The approval of the Senate is generally required for appointments to cabinet positions in the USA. Before that, the candidates proposed by the President must pass through the Senate committees.

At the same time, however, the head of state has the right to temporarily appoint ministers during recesses of the Senate. This is intended to ensure the government's ability to act. Ministers appointed in this way must then be confirmed by the Senate by the end of the session in order to remain in office. In practice, they may be able to hold the post for up to almost two years.

Trump's variant is controversial
US presidents have rarely taken this route in the past - and there have been disputes about such appointments in the past. For example, a legal dispute over President Barack Obama's appointment to a post in 2012 led the US Supreme Court to set the minimum length of Senate recesses for such appointments at ten days. Since then, the Senate has routinely held so-called pro forma meetings during recesses, which prevent the President from filling posts single-handedly.

The Republicans already secured a majority in the Senate in Tuesday's election with at least 53 of the 100 seats. It is still unclear who will win one seat. However, even in the minority, the Democrats could delay the appointment process in the relevant committees.

Republicans agree to proposal
Trump wrote that the cabinet posts must be filled as quickly as possible. And the so-called "recess appointments" during breaks in the session are also necessary for this. Senator Rick Scott from Florida, who is considered the most promising candidate for the office of Senate Majority Leader, immediately wrote that he agreed 100 percent.

The other candidates John Thune and John Cornyn were also open to the idea. For Trump's plan to work, the Republican majority in the Senate would have to decide on a recess of more than ten days without interim meetings.