the president-elect wants to appoint the heads of his future administration without the green light from the Senate

An article of the American Constitution authorizes the head of state to do so, but only if the Senate is not in session.

He wants to act quickly. 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. “Sometimes votes can take two years or more. (…) We cannot let this happen again”he justified, on X, accusing the Democrats of having slowed him down during his first term (2017-2021).

A section of the U.S. Constitution allows the president to make appointments without approval only when the Senate is not in session. But this provision is rarely activated, as senators usually arrange to sit at the time of nominations and thus exercise their power of control over the executive. 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.

During the November 5 elections, the Republican Party regained the majority in the Senate, where elected Democrats could, however, slow down the process of approving nominations. “Any Republican senator aiming to take the coveted leadership spot in the U.S. Senate must accept nominations” outside of parliamentary sessions, warned Donald Trump. In his wake, the three senators campaigning for this position reacted by supporting the president-elect's request.