特朗普可能会尝试使用一项鲜为人知的宪法条款，通过休会任命任命有争议的候选人

【中美创新时报2024 年 11 月 15 日编译讯】（记者温友平编译）唐纳德·特朗普在他的第一任期内突破了总统权力的界限，但现在有人担心他可能会走得更远，试图任命极具争议的候选人，如前众议员马特·盖茨担任司法部长和小罗伯特·肯尼迪担任卫生与公众服务部部长。《波士顿环球报》记者Jim Puzzanghera对此作了下述报道。

这位当选总统公开表示，他希望使用所谓的休会任命来绕过参议院的确认，以便“立即填补”职位。其他总统在面对反对党的拖延时也使用了这种有限的宪法权力，但特朗普可能正在考虑一个转折——绕过本党对某些提名人的反对。

保守派法律学者爱德华·惠兰 (Edward Whelan) 周四在《华盛顿邮报》的一篇评论文章中表示，他听说特朗普正在考虑触发一项鲜为人知的宪法条款，该条款将允许他不顾即将上任的共和党参议院多数派的反对，强行休会。此举将允许他随意任命任何候选人。

“当选总统唐纳德·特朗普威胁要颠覆宪法对内阁官员的任命程序，”华盛顿特区保守派智库道德与公共政策中心的杰出高级研究员惠兰写道。

尽管从未有人这样做过，但专家表示，宪法中存在这一权力——尽管它可能面临法律挑战。

“这并不疯狂。它就在那里，”休斯顿南德克萨斯法学院宪法学教授乔希·布莱克曼 (Josh Blackman) 说。“只是以前从未行使过。”

宪法规定，总统“可以在特殊情况下”休会众议院和参议院，以防它们在休会时间上“意见不一”。一旦参议院休会，特朗普就可以使用宪法其他部分赋予他的权力，在立法休会期间“临时任命”。

“我认为他有这个权力，这一点非常明显，”前司法部官员、已故马萨诸塞州参议员爱德华·肯尼迪在参议院司法委员会的首席法律顾问威廉·约曼斯说。“有非常有力的论据表明，这是对建国者建立的三权分立的真正干涉。”

特朗普发言人没有回复要求置评的电子邮件。

一些参议院共和党人表示，如果有人试图绕过他们确认总统候选人的权力，他们会遇到麻烦。

“我认为，如果党内有异议，就不应该使用休会任命，”北达科他州参议员凯文·克莱默说。 “我认为这违反了赋予我们这种权力的宪法规定……建议和同意，以及三权分立。”

盖茨和肯尼迪可能会面临共和党的反对，这将危及他们的任命。由于明年共和党的多数席位微弱，而且几乎所有民主党人都可能会反对这些提名，特朗普唯一的选择就是在参议院休会期间暂时任命他们，让他们休会。

这些任命通常持续到一年一度的国会会议结束，可能会引起争议，最高法院在 2014 年限制了这些任命，因为当时民主党总统巴拉克·奥巴马试图任命被提名人，但遭到参议院共和党多数派的阻挠。

奥巴马曾辩称，参议院每三天举行一次例行会议，由一名参议员出席，敲锣打鼓宣布开会和闭会，这只是一种避免宣布休会以防止他在他们缺席的情况下任命的方式。他采取了前所未有的举措，宣布参议院实际上处于休会状态，并任命了国家劳工关系委员会的成员。

最高法院裁定，奥巴马的举动违反了宪法。

“参议院开会时，它就开会了，”斯蒂芬·布雷耶大法官在一致决定中写道。

但在一份同意书中，大法官安东宁·斯卡利亚认为休会任命应该更加有限，称其为建国初期的“时代错误”，当时立法者很难在国会会议之间骑马返回华盛顿填补重要空缺。斯卡利亚于 2016 年去世，但他的同意得到了三位现任法院成员的支持——首席大法官约翰·罗伯茨、大法官克拉伦斯·托马斯和塞缪尔·阿利托。

由于这些保守派大法官的观点，布莱克曼表示，如果特朗普试图休会参议院进行休会任命，他将面临最高法院推翻判决的风险。

“休会权的目的不是触发休会权，”布莱克曼说。“它不是为了扩大总统的任命权。这与该条款的设计目的相差甚远。”

开国元勋亚历山大·汉密尔顿在《联邦党人文集》第 76 号中写道，要求参议院确认提名人“将极大地制约总统的偏袒精神，并有助于防止任命不合适的人选。”

缅因州共和党参议员苏珊·柯林斯周四在讨论另一位备受争议的特朗普提名人、前众议员塔尔西·加巴德出任国家情报总监时，援引了参议院的建议和同意权。

她告诉记者：“这位提名人说明了全面背景调查、公开听证会和……参议院在建议和同意方面的宪法作用的重要性，而不是进行某种休会任命。”

特朗普在“真相社交周日”上写道，寻求接替肯塔基州参议员米奇·麦康奈尔担任新参议院多数党领袖的共和党人“必须同意（在参议院！）休会任命，否则我们将无法及时确认人选……我们需要立即填补职位！”

在他的第一个任期内，特朗普威胁要“行使宪法赋予我的权力，让国会两院休会”，以便他在 2020 年疫情初期进行休会任命，但从未付诸行动。

南达科他州参议员约翰·图恩周三赢得了这场内部竞选，并表示特朗普进行休会任命是一种选择。但他表示，只有在民主党造成长时间拖延的情况下才会这样做。

“显然，我们希望确保我们的委员会像往常一样举行确认听证会，”他说。图恩说，如果民主党不合作帮助推进这些提名人，参议院共和党人将“探索所有选择，以确保他们被提拔，并迅速被提拔。”

但专家表示，如果任何提名人似乎因为一些共和党人的反对而无法在参议院获得多数票，特朗普可能会求助于休会任命来绕过确认。

如果参议院拒绝休会以允许特朗普做出任命，众议院共和党多数派可能会提出休会。这将产生宪法所要求的分歧，特朗普可以介入并休会，为他做出休会任命打开大门。

布莱克曼说，如果此案提交最高法院，根据 2014 年的判决，特朗普可能会以 9-0 败北。但约曼斯表示，鉴于最高法院最近对总统权力的有利裁决，他怀疑最高法院 6-3 的保守派多数派会阻止特朗普。

“他们基本上已经宣布，在这样的问题上，他们将极其尊重总统，所以我认为，如果他们挑战总统，那将非常令人惊讶，因为他已经策划了一场逆转，”他说。

题图：2018 年显示的对马特·盖茨的确认肯定会引起争议。Jabin Botsford/华盛顿邮报

附原英文报道：

Trump could try to use an obscure constitutional provision to install controversial nominees with recess appointments

By Jim Puzzanghera Globe Staff,Updated November 14, 2024

The confirmation of Matt Gaetz,, shown in 2018, is sure to be controversial.Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post

WASHINGTON — Donald Trump pushed the envelope on presidential powers in his first term, but now there are concerns he could go even further in an attempt to install highly controversial nominees like former representative Matt Gaetz as attorney general and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as health and human services secretary.

The president-elect has publicly said he wants to use so-called recess appointments to bypass Senate confirmation so positions can be “filled immediately.” Other presidents have used that limited constitutional power when faced with delays by the opposing party, but Trump might be considering a twist — circumventing his own party’s opposition to some nominees.

Edward Whelan, a conservative legal scholar, said in a Washington Post opinion article Thursday that he’s heard that Trump is considering triggering an obscure constitutional provision that would allow him to force a recess over the objections of the incoming Republican Senate majority. The move would permit him to put any nominee in place at will.

“President-elect Donald Trump is threatening to turn the Constitution’s appointment process for Cabinet officers on its head,” wrote Whelan, a distinguished senior fellow of the Ethics and Public Policy Center, a conservative Washington, D.C., think tank.

Even though it’s never been done, experts said the authority exists in the Constitution — although it would likely face a legal challenge.

“It’s not crazy. It’s in there,” said Josh Blackman, a constitutional law professor at the South Texas College of Law Houston. “It’s just never been exercised before.”

The Constitution says the president “may, on extraordinary occasions” adjourn the House and Senate “in case of disagreement” between them on when they should adjourn. Once the Senate is adjourned, Trump could use the power elsewhere in the Constitution for him to “make temporary appointments” during a legislative recess.

“I think it’s pretty clear that he has that authority,” said William Yeomans, a former Justice Department official who served as the late Massachusetts Senator Edward Kennedy’s chief counsel on the Senate Judiciary Committee. “There’s a very strong argument that it’s a real interference with the separation of powers as established by the founders.”

Trump spokespeople did not respond to an email requesting comment.

Some Senate Republicans said they would have a problem if there was an attempt to circumvent their power to confirm presidential nominees.

“I think a recess appointment should not be used if there’s intraparty objection,” said Senator Kevin Cramer of North Dakota. “I think it’s a violation of the constitutional provision that gives us this authority to . . . advise and consent, and separation of powers.”

Gaetz and Kennedy could face Republican opposition that would jeopardize their confirmations. With a narrow GOP majority next year and the probability that nearly all Democrats will oppose those nominations, Trump’s only option then would be to install them temporarily when the Senate is on a break by making them recess appointments.

Those appointments, which typically last until the end of the year-long congressional session, can be controversial and the Supreme Court limited them in 2014 after Democratic President Barack Obama tried to install nominees being blocked by the Senate Republican majority at the time.

Obama had argued that the Senate’s practice of holding pro forma sessions every three days in which a single senator showed up and gaveled the chamber in and out of session was simply a way to avoid declaring a recess to prevent him from making appointments in their absence. In an unprecedented move, he declared that the Senate was actually in recess and made appointments to the National Labor Relations Board.

The Supreme Court ruled that Obama’s maneuver violated the Constitution.

“The Senate is in session when it says it is,” Justice Stephen Breyer wrote in the unanimous decision.

But in a concurrence, Justice Antonin Scalia argued that recess appointments should be even more limited, labeling them an “anachronism” from the early days of the nation when it was difficult for lawmakers to return to Washington on horseback between congressional sessions to fill important vacancies. Scalia died in 2016, but his concurrence was joined by three current court members — Chief Justice John Roberts along with justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito.

Because of the views of those conservative justices, Blackman said Trump would be risking a Supreme Court reversal if he tried to adjourn the Senate to make recess appointments.

“The purpose of the adjournment power isn’t to trigger the recess power,” Blackman said. “It wasn’t meant to aggrandize the president’s power of appointment. That’s not even in the ballpark of what the provision was designed for.”

Founding father Alexander Hamilton wrote in Federalist Paper 76 that the requirement that the Senate confirm nominees “would be an excellent check upon a spirit of favoritism in the President, and would tend greatly to prevent the appointment of unfit characters.”

Senator Susan Collins, a Maine Republican, on Thursday cited the Senate’s advice and consent power in discussing the confirmation of another controversial Trump nominee, former representative Tulsi Gabbard, to be director of national intelligence.

“That’s a nominee that illustrates the importance of a full background check, a public hearing and . . . the constitutional role of the Senate on advice and consent, rather than doing some sort of recess appointment,” she told reporters.

Trump wrote on Truth Social Sunday that the Republicans seeking to succeed Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky as the new Senate majority leader “must agree to Recess Appointments (in the Senate!), without which we will not be able to get people confirmed in a timely manner. . . . We need positions filled IMMEDIATELY!”

During his first term, Trump threatened to “exercise my constitutional authority to adjourn both chambers of Congress” to allow him to make recess appointments during the early days of the pandemic in 2020 but never followed through.

Senator John Thune of South Dakota won that internal race on Wednesday and said Trump making recess appointments was an option. But he indicated it would only be if Democrats caused lengthy delays.

“Obviously we want to make sure our committees have confirmation hearings like they typically do,” he said. If Democrats don’t cooperate in helping advance those nominees, Thune said, Senate Republicans would “explore all options to make sure they get moved and they get moved quickly.”

But if any nominees appear like they won’t get a majority in the Senate because of some Republican opposition, Trump could turn to recess appointments to bypass confirmation, experts said.

And should the Senate refuse to go into a recess to allow Trump to make the appointments, the House Republican majority could move to adjourn. That would create the disagreement required in the Constitution for Trump to step in and adjourn them both, opening the door for him to make recess appointments.

If the case went to the Supreme Court, Blackman said, Trump risks losing 9-0 based on that 2014 decision. But Yeomans said he doubts the Supreme Court’s 6-3 conservative majority would block Trump given their recent favorable rulings on presidential power.

“They have basically declared they will be extremely deferential to the president on matters like this, so I think it would be very surprising if they were to challenge him because he has orchestrated an end around,” he said.