5 things to know: What are recess appointments? Trump wants them to bypass Senate approval
- Recess appointments don't require a Senate vote.
Recess appointments are when the president appoints a federal official while the U.S. Senate is in recess.
Various presidential appointments must be approved by the Senate and go through a hearing before being confirmed in the role. During this hearing, nominees can be questioned about their background, qualifications and policies. Then, the nominee must receive a majority vote to be approved.
In recess appointments, the president is able to bypass this process as the Senate is in recess, or on a break from proceedings.
https://rollcall.com/app/uploads/2024/07/2024CQRCCongressionalCalendar072624.pdf
Before the 20th Amendment, everyone was sworn in on March 4th. After that, Congress was in recess for much of the rest of the year. This is most likely because most of Congress were farmers and had to tend to planting season. Plus, Congress was not supposed to be a career. You serve a couple of terms and then get out and let somebody else serve. That is not true of some public servants nowadays which is why term limits are needed.