![]() No one seems eager to talk about the practice. Members up for reelection are given a pass so they can spend the recess campaigning. At other times, it simply depends on which members had already planned on hanging around town during the break and so don’t mind schlepping up to the Capitol to bang a gavel for an empty room. ![]() (Republicans, inconveniently, do not hold a Senate seat in any of those states.) Seniority counts too, with members lower down the food chain frequently called to serve. Geography matters: Lawmakers from Virginia, Maryland, and Delaware often pull duty for proximity’s sake. The leader’s office refuses to disclose ahead of time which members have been tapped, although there are a few rough guidelines that tend to be followed. Whenever a recess looms on the calendar, the majority party’s leadership asks a few members to be on hand to oversee enough quickie sessions to occur every three days. The whole pro forma process has a makeshift, vaguely sketchy vibe to it. (Reid’s office declined to comment on whether they regret having popped the cork on this particular genie.) That distinction goes to Democratic Leader Harry Reid, who pioneered the practice during the waning years of George W. cannot take the blame for this procedural obstruction. And although this Republican majority has shown a special fondness for bogging down nominations, McConnell and Co. Partisan relations being what they are, the practice is pretty much standard nowadays during breaks of more than a few days. Not that it requires a Supreme Court standoff to prompt “gavel-in, gavel-out” sessions. ![]() And with Senate Republicans currently refusing even to consider President Obama’s nominee to the Supreme Court, a recess appointment is something Majority Leader Mitch McConnell simply will not risk. A recess of that length opens the door to recess appointments by the president. Except that, if this tiny pro forma session had not taken place (nor the three more upcoming one like it scheduled for the break), the Senate would be in recess for more than 10 days-which, as any legislator can tell you, is a no-no. It was, by and large, a scorching waste of time for everyone who had to be on hand to make it happen. ![]() No business was conducted, and no member besides Cornyn bothered showing up. Thursday, gave the gavel a closing bang, and made for the door.Īll told, Monday’s session lasted a whopping 35 seconds. And with that, Cornyn declared the body adjourned until 11 a.m. The lanky, bespectacled clerk rose and delivered a one-sentence order appointing Cornyn chairman for the day. on the dot, he gaveled the empty room to order, and, per the short script someone had thoughtfully left him, directed the legislative clerk to read “a communication to the Senate” from Senate president pro tempore Orrin Hatch. Charcoal suit sharp, white hair gleaming, the Republican whip greeted the assembled few as he made his way to the presiding officer’s chair. Just before the hour, Senator John Cornyn of Texas sauntered in. Then everyone sat around chatting, as a few more tourists trickled into the upper decks. neared, the parliamentarian, two clerks, and a couple of other Senate officers took their places at the front of the empty chamber. Breyer wrote in the court’s unanimous decision.But not everyone was out enjoying the recess. “The Senate is in session when it says it is,” Justice Stephen G. ![]() The Supreme Court in 2014 ruled that Obama had overstepped his bounds in making the appointments. In 2012, then-President Barack Obama made recess appointments to the National Labor Relations Board - despite the Senate not having officially recessed. It’s not the first time the Senate has invoked a pro forma session. “To meet our constitutional requirement of meeting every few days, we’re doing pro formas,” he said. Though most regard this week’s pro forma announcement as a protection against the president, a spokesperson for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Friday the Senate “didn’t do it to block Trump.” The move Thursday keeps Trump from being able to fire Sessions and replace him without Senate approval, which would be seen as the president going after Mueller Trump has also left the door open to terminating the special counsel, which Graham said would mark the “beginning of the end” of his presidency. Lindsay Graham (R-S.C.) has said that there would be “holy hell to pay” if Trump fired Sessions. Trump has been rumored to be considering firing Attorney General Jeff Sessions, whom he’s publicly attacked several times recently for his decision in March to recuse himself from matters relating to the Russia investigation. ![]()
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