Senate Republicans received Tuesday morning an urgent word from the Washington Post editorial board as they face mounting bullying from MAGA commentators bent on delivering them to President-elect Donald Trump: "Fight."
The editorial board urged Republican senators not to kowtow to messaging from pundits such as Tucker Carlson — as three hopeful majority leaders have done — and support Trump's call to circumvent congressional oversight with recess appointments.
"Senators should fight his efforts to evade their scrutiny in his second term," the Post stated, "regardless of what the next Senate GOP leader has promised Mr. Trump."
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The Washington Post's message serves as a stern rebuke to Sens. John Cornyn (R-TX), Rick Scott (R-FL) and John Thune (R-SD) — all of whom have fallen in line with a political maneuver that conservative members on the Supreme Court once condemned.
The Post argued Trump's demand to make temporarily appointments, despite a clear majority of at least 52 seats, suggests he's got some unsavory characters in mind.
"[Trump is] signaling his intention to elevate appointees whom even some Republicans cannot tolerate," the board warned. "Senators should refuse to squander their constitutional prerogatives in this way."
Such appointments were designed to allow a president to act quickly in an era when the Senate was in recess for months-long stretches in an era without high-speed travel and communications, the board notes.
That's why the Supreme Court ruled unanimously against former President Barack Obama in 2014 when he made recess appointments to the National Labor Relations Board under the rule the Post argued "exists mainly to be abused."
"Justice Antonin Scalia dismissed the recess power as an 'anachronism' that undermined the Senate’s authority to advise and consent," the Post wrote. “Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel A. Alito Jr. agreed with Justice Scalia on that point."
The Washington Post concluded its editorial by urging Senate Republicans to consider their duty to serve as a check on executive power now in the hands of a former president who frequently tried to undermine them during his first term.
Editorial board members pointed to what they described as Trump's "dubious" abuse of the Federal Vacancies Reform Act to install acting secretaries and his threats during the covid-19 pandemic to adjourn Congress to make recess appointments.
"The bar for opposing a Cabinet nominee should be high," the editorial board concluded. "But it should not be insurmountable. Certain misconduct, corruption, a record of incompetence or extreme views could be reasonable grounds to oppose a nomination. Requiring Senate confirmation for major offices discourages presidents from tapping unsuitable candidates for powerful positions."