Donald Trump asks Republican senators to exempt him from their approval of his appointments

The American president-elect, Donald Trump, asked senators on Sunday, November 10, to exempt him from their approval, in principle obligatory, to appoint the highest officials of his future administration.

An article of the American Constitution allows him to make appointments without them being approved by the Senate when the latter is not in session. This provision is nevertheless rarely activated, with senators arranging to sit at the time of nominations and thus exercise their power of control over the executive.

The Republican Party has regained the majority in the Senate, which will meet in January to take the oath of office, but elected Democrats could still slow down the process of approving nominations.

“Sometimes votes can take two years or more. This is what they did four years ago, and we can't let it happen again.”protested Sunday, on X, the president-elect. “Any Republican senator aiming to take the coveted leadership spot in the U.S. Senate must accept nominations” outside of parliamentary sessions, he added.

Support from Republican senators

The three senators campaigning for this position reacted by supporting Donald Trump's request. “Agree 100%. I will do anything to ensure that your nominations [soient approuvées] as quickly as possible »wrote Rick Scott, senator-elect in Florida, supported by billionaires Vivek Ramaswamy and Elon Musk and other allies of Donald Trump to oversee the party's elected officials in the Senate.

“We must act quickly and decisively to ensure that the president's appointees are approved and all options are on the table, including appointing during a parliamentary recess”declared John Thune, elected from South Dakota, current number two Republican in the Senate.

“It is unacceptable that Democratic senators are blocking” the nominations, for his part, declared John Cornyn, of Texas. “If they do, we will stay in session even on weekends until they relent. And the Constitution gives the president the power to make appointments during recess.”he added.

The US Senate examines and confirms by a vote, first in committee, then in plenary session, the appointments of ministers, their deputies, but also ambassadors, military officials, directors of multiple federal agencies and judges, notably those of the Supreme Court. “No judge must be approved” before the Republicans have chosen their leader and taken office in the Senate, Donald Trump added on Sunday.