What are recess appointments and why would Trump want them?

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Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Although Republicans are set to take control of the Senate in January, President-elect Donald Trump has demanded that the chamber suspend its power to confirm nominations and instead go out of session so that he can use “recess appointments" to install at least some administration officials, such as cabinet secretaries, without Senate approval.

Here is a closer look at that process. The Constitution empowers the president to appoint ambassadors, judges and “other Officers of the United States," subject to “the Advice and Consent of the Senate." Today, more than 1,000 senior positions in the federal government require Senate confirmation, making the process of nominating and confirming officials a frequent source of tension between the executive and legislative branches, particularly during periods of divided government.

Senators have sometimes slowed down the confirmation process to extract concessions from the White House, at times over issues that have nothing to do with the vacancy being filled. But the framers of the Constitution viewed the division of authority between presidential nominations and Senate confirmations as a way to promote good government through better qualified officials.

The Senate wasn’t conceived to continuously be in session, and the vagaries of 18th century communication and transportation meant that weeks could go by before lawmakers could be reconvened for an emergency. To keep the government staffed, the Constitution provides that the president may fill vacancies while the Senate is in recess, but those commissions expire at the end of the next session of Congress.