A second Trump term poses a crucial test of the Senate's independence
Trump's determination to crash over traditional governmental guardrails will present a fundamental test of whether the Republican-controlled Senate can maintain its constitutional role as an independent institution and a check on presidential power.
With Trump putting forward a raft of contentious prospective nominees and threatening to challenge congressional authority in other ways, Republicans who will hold the majority come January could find themselves in the precarious position of having to choose between standing up for their institution or bowing to a president dismissive of government norms.
The clearest and most immediate point of tension is likely to be Trump's efforts to skip the Senate's traditional confirmation process to install loyalists, including some with checkered backgrounds, in his Cabinet. But the president-elect has also signaled he expects Republicans on Capitol Hill to accede to his wishes on policy, even if that means ceding Congress' control over federal spending. Both are powers explicitly given to the legislative branch in the Constitution.
Lawmakers and analysts say allowing Trump to erode the Senate's authority to pass judgment on nominees by sidestepping it through recess appointments or watered-down background checks could do permanent damage to the Senate and undermine the constitutional system.
«It is the central pillar in the checks-and-balances system,» said Ira Shapiro, a former longtime Senate staffer and author of three books on the institution. «There is nothing more
