• The threat from House Republicans should be seen and called out for what it is: an autocratic move that is not just unlawful but contemptuous of constitutionalism.

Donald Trump has not even returned to office, and already a constitutional crisis may be in the making. Trump has started announcing the people he intends to nominate for positions in his new administration. That is his prerogative. Several senators have criticized some of Trump’s choices. That is their prerogative (and two Trump nominees have already withdrawn under pressure). But rumors have been circulating of a plan to have Trump dismiss the Senate altogether, in a desperate effort to jam his nominees into office. There is simply no way to do this consistent with the text, history, and structure of the Constitution.

The Constitution and laws require the Senate’s approval to fill many of the government’s most important offices — such as attorney general or secretary of state — all of which wield extraordinary powers on behalf of the public. The Senate’s involvement helps to ensure that the people in these jobs have the necessary competence and integrity. In Alexander Hamilton’s apt words, the Senate can prevent the appointment of “unfit characters” who would be no more than “obsequious instruments” of the president’s “pleasure.”

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Source: Akhil Reed Amar, Josh Chafetz, and Thomas P. Schmidt, theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2024/12/trump-senate-constitution-house-congress/680898/