Senate Republicans must promise a Trump recess and open ballot for Speaker

OPINION:

On Nov. 13, Senate Republicans will hide behind closed doors and elect a new majority leader. If current Republican leader Mitch McConnell has his way, he will saddle President-elect Donald Trump with one of two Never Trump, anti-tariff, open border Republicans in name only: John Cornyn of Texas or John Thune of South Dakota.

If either Mr. Cornyn or Mr. Thune is elected to be Mr. McConnell’s pope and Mr. Trump’s nemesis, the new Senate majority leader will strangle Mr. Trump’s Cabinet appointees in their cribs and set back implementation of the Trump agenda by months — an agenda endorsed by a landslide of the American people. 

There is an easy two-part way out of what will otherwise be a catastrophic Senate Republican failure. Mr. Trump and Elon Musk have already called for it: The Senate must choose its new leader in open session. Any candidate for the post must pledge to hold at least a 30-day recess by the end of the first month of the new Trump administration. 

Having an open ballot will ensure that all of the senators who have promised to support Mr. Trump will vote for the candidate of Mr. Trump’s choosing. They can’t lie to Mr. Trump when everything is out in the open. 

A commitment by the new Senate majority leader to hold a 30-day recess by the end of the first month of the Trump administration is absolutely critical. This will allow Mr. Trump to put whomever he chooses into his administration without the hassle and roadblocks of either new Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer or the open border, amnesty-pushing, anti-tariff Senate Republican wing. 

The recess appointments clause of the Constitution (Article II, Section 2, Clause 3) states: “The President shall have Power to fill up all Vacancies that may happen during the Recess of the Senate, by granting Commissions which shall expire at the End of their next Session.” 

While such appointments made in recess are temporary, the official can still serve until the end of the following Senate session. In the Trump scenario, this would allow such appointees to hold the position for up to nearly two years without Senate confirmation.

Here’s why the Nov. 13 Senate vote is such a big deal.

Institutionally, the Senate has the power to confirm not just all 22 of Mr. Trump’s Cabinet appointees but also the hundreds of deputy secretaries and undersecretaries, many of the assistant and deputy undersecretary positions and key West Wing positions such as the head of the Office of Management and Budget and the Council of Economic Advisers.

And that’s just for starters: The Senate also has the power to confirm heads of the Environmental Protection Agency, Federal Communications Commission, Federal Trade Commission and Securities and Exchange Commission, along with appointees to the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, Nuclear Regulatory Commission and National Labor Relations Board. 

Let’s not forget the Senate’s power to confirm U.S. ambassadors to foreign countries and organizations, such as the United Nations. Nor this buried lead: The heads of the FBI, CIA, National Security Agency and Defense Intelligence Agency, along with the director of national intelligence and director of the Secret Service, also require Senate approval.

In Mr. Trump’s first term, hundreds of these positions went unfilled and hundreds more faced punishing delays. Instead of Trump appointees cleaning up the deep swamp and riding herd over the deep bureaucratic state, K Street swamp creatures and Washington bureaucracies often got in Mr. Trump’s way.  

Much of this was indeed Mr. McConnell’s fault. This Trump-hating RINO, who did almost as much damage as Rep. Nancy Pelosi, refused to declare a single recess during the Trump administration. This calculated obstinance despite repeated requests by the Trump administration to do so. 

It was Mr. McConnell’s treachery that cost this nation dearly, and we, the people, who have given Mr. Trump a landslide win and the Republicans a clear majority, must say, never again.

We need an open ballot election and a Republican Senate ironclad commitment to a 30-day recess by February. Mr. Cornyn and Mr. Thune both oppose that. The third candidate, Rick Scott, off his own landslide victory in Florida, has given this his full-throated endorsement and Mr. Musk’s endorsement. 

So take matters into your own hands now. Call your senators and tweet/truth social up a storm. We, the people, must speak once more today on behalf of Mr. Trump and his agenda.

• Peter Navarro served as Donald Trump’s manufacturing czar and chief China hawk. He is the author of “The New MAGA Deal: The Unofficial Deplorables Guide to Donald Trump’s 2024 Platform.” Follow him at www.peternavarro.substack.com.