Understanding Recess Appointments; How Donald Trump Could Nominate Gaetz and RFK Jr. Without Senate Approval
With the dais laid out for the inauguration of Republican Party nominee Donald Trump as the 47th President of the US, Trump has announced several crucial cabinet nominations on his social media platform, Truth Social.
However, the appointments need approval by the Senate, and it seems Trump will be taking the recourse of recess appointments to bypass the Senate. This process will enable him to fill different cabinet berths temporarily without Senate approval.
Notable appointments include Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to the post of Secretary of Health and Human Services, Pete Hegseth, a former Fox News host, to the post of Defense Secretary, Florida House Representative Matt Gaetz to the post of Attorney General, Tulsi Gabbard as Director of National Intelligence, and Lee Zeldin, who will oversee the Environmental Protection Agency.
Cabinet appointments are a regular feature every four years when a new President assumes office, and a nominee is rarely defeated by a vote in the Senate. However, one such instance occurred in 1989 when John Tower, a former senator from Texas, was appointed by George Bush as his Secretary of Defense.
However, Tower was accused of being an alcoholic and a womanizer, and the press unearthed Pentagon files back then that documented his “special attention on the secretaries” as an arms negotiator in Geneva. He was also the subject of an FBI investigation, which was part of a security clearance check.
Coming to the present, Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz, President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for Attorney General, was also the subject of a federal investigation for sex trafficking by the Department of Justice. It is the same department that Donald Trump wants Gaetz to head.
The details of the FBI investigation were never made public and will surely come up at his confirmation hearing. Former House colleagues also contend that Gaetz bragged about sex with an underage girl.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s appointment to the post of Secretary of Health and Human Services could also face hurdles since he has a history of drug abuse and is a known vaccine skeptic.
In the past, nominees who faced a high probability of being rejected by the Senate often withdrew their nominations. Such instances have happened with every recent President, including Bill Clinton, who had to withdraw his initial nominee for Attorney General, Zoe Baird. Zoe had admitted that she employed undocumented immigrants to watch her child.
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