The clock is ticking, and the House Freedom Caucus wants President Trump to use every last minute of it.
At a Capitol Hill press conference on Wednesday, House Freedom Caucus Chairman Andy Harris (R-Md.) called on Senate Republicans to take a 10-day recess during the lame-duck session so President Donald Trump can make recess appointments before Democrats take control of Congress in January.
“If they don’t want to spend all 52 days, that’s fine. Let’s take a 10-day recess so the president can make some recess appointments that can last for a year.”
— Rep. Andy Harris, as reported by the Washington Examiner
Why the rush
Democrats won majorities in both the House and the Senate in the Nov. 3 midterm elections. When the new Congress is sworn in on Jan. 3, 2027, Republicans will lose control of the Senate confirmation process, and with it, the ability to move the president’s nominees on their own.
Conservatives see the remaining weeks as a final window. Under the Constitution, a president can fill vacancies while the Senate is in recess, and those appointments last until the end of the Senate’s next session. That is the “year” Harris is pointing to.
The Freedom Caucus roadmap
The recess call builds on a letter the Freedom Caucus board sent Monday to House Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Majority Leader John Thune laying out its lame-duck priorities. According to reporting by the Washington Examiner and the Washington Times, the group is pushing to:
- Confirm as many of the president’s nominees as possible in the Senate
- Codify President Trump’s border security policies and ban sanctuary cities
- Pass legislation requiring voter ID in federal elections
- Pass a reconciliation package with defense modernization funding, tax relief for families, and at least $1 trillion in spending reductions
- Freeze federal spending at current levels and oppose a year-end omnibus “filled with poison pills” ahead of the Dec. 11 government funding deadline
“Every one of us — including those leaving Congress on January 3rd — should be committed to finishing the job,” the caucus wrote.
Lock it in before January
Freedom Caucus members, including Rep. Mary Miller (R-Ill.), have also been pressing Congress to turn the president’s executive orders into permanent law while Republicans still hold the gavel, warning that executive actions can be reversed far more easily than statutes once Democrats take over.
Whether Senate Republicans go along is another matter: a recess long enough to open the door to recess appointments would need the Senate’s own agreement.
For conservatives, the message is simple: 52 days is not a lot of time, and they don’t want to waste any of it.