Notwithstanding his Twitter tantrums, Trump is about to be handed an array of other options for getting his own way. He wants Christopher Wray appointed as FBI Director. He want to scuttle Congress’s Russian sanctions Bill. Above all, he wants to rid himself of Special Counsel Mueller and the Russia Investigation
Pocket Vetoes
I had never heard of these until about a week ago. Then I looked up the term and found this on the US Senate website:
pocket veto - The Constitution grants the president 10 days to review a measure passed by the Congress. If the president has not signed the bill after 10 days, it becomes law without his signature. However, if Congress adjourns during the 10-day period, the bill does not become law.
It’s based on a clause in the US Constitution’s Article 1, Section 7:
If any bill shall not be returned by the President within ten days (Sundays excepted) after it shall have been presented to him, the same shall be a law, in like manner as if he had signed it, unless the Congress by their adjournment prevent its return, in which case it shall not be a law.
Isn’t it wonderful how much Advanced Civics we are all learning in the Trump era.
So when will this Bill make its way to Trump’s desk? It passed the Senate on Wednesday, June 14 with an impressive 97-2 majority. Then it went to the House.
The New York Times, 22 July 2017:
A sanctions package had stalled in the Republican-led House for weeks after winning near-unanimous support in the Senate last month.
Yes, we’ve established that so why is it taking so damn long in the House?
Democrats accused Republicans of delaying quick action on the bill at the behest of the Trump administration
Of course the Republicans are delaying it. Ryan had one eye on the calendar as he oversaw this delay. Originally the sticking points were minor tweaks that House leaders said were necessary to comply with the Constitution (they weren’t).
So the legislation was returned to the Senate which passed technical changes to the bill by unanimous consent on Thursday June 29 before kicking the measure back to the House. The House acknowledged receipt of the bill and took off for their week-long July 4 vacation.
CNN, July 29:
"We should have passed it already, and letting it go into the break without taking care of what needs to be taken care of worries me a bit," said New York Rep. Eliot Engel, the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
...
Pressed on Democrats' charge that those holding up the bill to do the White House's bidding on Russia, Sessions replied, "I am concerned about companies from Dallas, Texas that I continue to support."
That would be Pete Sessions, the oily black knight of fossil fuels. He could’ve brought up this alleged concern of his in the two previous weeks when the House was considering the legislation in June, but he didn’t. He saved it up to delay the bill in July… for almost three weeks.
So now, nearly six weeks after the Senate originally voted on the bill, the House has tweaked it to their satisfaction and is finally set to vote on it… next Tuesday according to Kevin McCarthy’s office.
That would be Tuesday, July 25. When do they adjourn for their Summer vacation? Officially the recess begins on July 31, six days after the House vote.
McConnell did make noises about delaying the Senate recess for two weeks but seems to have given up the idea. Therefore the long-awaited Russian Sanctions Bill will finally arrive on Trump’s desk less than six days before recess begins.
And that’s where Article I, Section 7 comes in:
...unless the Congress by their adjournment prevent its return [in less than ten days], in which case it shall not be a law [if the White House occupant doesn’t sign the damn thing].
And of course he won’t sign it — too busy, he has 18 straight days of golf to prepare for — so, in the words of the US Constitution, Article I, Sections 7, “It shall not be law.”
Did House republicans ensure it would happen this way? Of course they did.
Recess Appointments
Remember them? Recess appointments are authorized by the US Constitution in the final paragraph of Article II, Section 2:
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.
It’s a long time since we’ve had reason to discuss these. Our last discussion, as I recall, centered around the republicans’ endeavor to deny President Obama the capacity to make any recess appointments. They succeeded too, with the assistance of SCOTUS. What they devised was pro forma sessions, in which a token senator bangs the gavel during holiday periods to prevent triggering a formal recess.
In all, President Obama made 32 recess appointments before Republican obstruction came into play. By comparison, George Bush Sr made 100 recess appointments, George Dubbya 171 and Ronald Reagan 232.
How many will Trump make? We’ll get to find out in August if appointing officials like Christopher Wray to the FBI, and firing Jeff Sessions to replace him with someone who swears they will fire Special Counsel Mueller first thing, doesn’t get in the way of Trump’s time on the golf course.
According to the US Supreme Court ruling:
Breyer said in his majority opinion that a congressional break has to last at least 10 days to be considered a recess under the constitution. Under congressional rules, neither house of Congress can take more than a three-day break without the consent of the other.
Of course both houses of Congress have agreed to the duration of the upcoming break since both have republican majorities. The Summer recess is officially 5 weeks and 2 days so Trump has all of August 10 to September 4 to make as many appointments as he wants, and to fire and replace people too.
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So just when we think there’ll be a break in the constant ruinous attacks on the republic and its democracy, we find there’s even more battalions ranged against us. Their bumbling ineptitude is not reassuring either. They are still managing to vandalize all three branches of the American government and disseminate fear, misery and despair.
It isn’t enough that we’re constantly told of checks and balances either. We need to see them in action, working to stop the ruination of this beleaguered nation. Mueller is assembling a powerful team but he may be running out of time if Trump really is intent on firing him as soon as he can find someone to do the firing for him.
From even a cursory glance around Daily Kos and Twitter, it is apparent that each person is drawing on their forté and has chosen their own way to push back. It is this coalition of combined effort, buoyed and uplifted with Hope, that sustains us. We will prevail because we must, no matter what the treasonweasels throw at us.