What is a recess appointment?

President-elect Trump has urged the next leader of Senate Republicans to support him in making recess appointments as three prominent GOP members are battling it out to succeed their leader, Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.).

“Any Republican Senator seeking the coveted LEADERSHIP position in the United States Senate must agree to Recess Appointments (in the Senate!), without which we will not be able to get people confirmed in a timely manner,” Trump said on the social platform X Sunday.

Sens. John Cornyn (R-Texas), John Thune (R-S.D.) and Rick Scott (R-Fla.), who are vying for the role of GOP leader in the upper chamber, have all said recently that Trump should be able to make recess appointments without input from the Senate.

But what are recess appointments? And how do they work? Here’s what you need to know:

What are recess appointments?

Article 2, Section 2, Clause 2 of the Constitution gives the president the power to “appoint Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, Judges of the Supreme Court, and all other Officers of the United States,” but they have to do so “by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate.”

The following clause, Article 2, Section 2, Clause 3, however, grants presidents the ability “to make temporary appointments when the Senate is not in session,” according to an annotation of the Constitution. These appointments can stay in place for up to two years.

If Trump can go ahead with recess appointments, it would let the president-elect speedily push through nominees and appointments without needing the upper chamber's approval.

Why might Trump need the backing of the next Senate GOP leader for recess appointments?

From the Obama administration on, Senate leaders have agreed not to allow the upper chamber to be out for recess for more than a few days without having ceremonial pro forma sessions blocking recess appointments from presidents on both sides of the aisle.

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