Senator John Thune sent the Senate on a 37-day vacation but made sure to lock in pro-forma sessions every few days to block President Trump from making recess appointments during the 5-week break.
#DC
Here’s a fast fact for you…It only takes one senator to object to the ‘unanimous consent’ for pro-forma sessions to stop this from happening.
#Senate
The Senate Majority leader fought off the Senators who wanted to stay and pass the SAVE Act, making sure he could go back to South Dakota, then continued the fight to keep any business from getting done by scheduling the pro-forma sessions every few days – in fact the first one was already held the morning of August 10th.
#Congress
Thune adjourned the Senate in the early morning hours of Saturday, August 8, after wrapping up a continuing resolution to fund the government into December without Voter ID, and without passing the SAVE act – there was a voice vote- and just listen to how many elected Senators voted to go on vacation….
The Senate will not return for any legislative work until mid-September.
In the meantime, the official schedule calls for brief pro forma sessions with no business conducted on these dates:
🔷️Monday, August 10 at 10:00 a.m.
🔷️Thursday, August 13 at 8:00 a.m.
🔷️Monday, August 17 at 1:30 p.m.
🔷️Thursday, August 20 at 11:30 a.m.
🔷️Monday, August 24 at 12:30 p.m.
🔷️Thursday, August 27 at 8:00 a.m.
And additional sessions continue until early September.
These short gatherings, often lasting only minutes, break up the long absence, so no continuous recess lasts 10 days or longer.
Under the Supreme Court’s 2014 ruling a recess of fewer than 10 days is too short for the president to exercise the constitutional power to fill vacancies without Senate confirmation.
The Court held that the Senate is in session when it says it is, as long as it retains the capacity to conduct business – even if no business is done.
The only times a party has blocked its own party president from recess appointments was in 2017 – when Mitch McConnell did it to Trump during his first term and currently as Thune continues to block Trump in his second term.
Critics say Thune (who was McConnell’s pick for Majority Leader), and McConnell are both RINOs who need to be voted out of their seats.
#ChristinaAguayoNews
