Trump Confirms That the New Senate Is in for a Wild Ride

Contributing sentiments towards policy:

73% : While it seems unlikely to work, since senators, voting by secret ballot, are unlikely to reward Scott for being an enthusiastic champion of the executive branch power, it is our first big hint of what kind of relationship Trump expects to have with his fellow Republicans in the Senate.
47% : That would give Trump the chance to pick anyone for any position without hearings or Senate approval to serve until the next Congress ends, a term of nearly two years.Thune and Cornyn, at least publicly, interpreted it in a more benign way, with Thune saying "all options are on the table" when it comes to getting Trump's picks confirmed, including recess appointments.
47% : The Senate majority leader has broad latitude to set the chamber's calendar, and he's ready to use it to clear the way for Trump.
42% : Trump posted on his social media platform that "Any Republican Senator seeking the coveted LEADERSHIP position in the United States Senate must agree to Recess Appointments."
42% : In 2017, when Trump also had a Republican Senate, his nominees faced unusually long delays before getting a vote, mostly owing to his choice of some seriously wealthy individuals for top posts.
39% : If Republicans obliged Trump and stood back, it would set a precedent that Democrats would surely be pressured to follow when they next take control of the White House and Senate, leaving us with an even greater imbalance of power between the branches on a permanent basis.
32% : "So what does Trump mean?
30% : In the darkest interpretation of his demand, Trump is saying that the new Senate should just go home for at least 10 days after the inauguration, which would trigger the constitutional clause allowing presidents to make recess appointments.
29% : It seems like Trump, who hasn't put forward anyone for a Senate-confirmed job yet who would have any trouble getting through, must have some real doozies in mind for other jobs if he is already worried about them getting rejected by his own party.
27% : Most tellingly, both threatened to allow Trump to make these picks if Senate Democrats were to block them, which, of course, they can't.
20% : Trump had the final piece of his Cabinet in place by late April, one day sooner than his predecessor, Barack Obama, managed in 2009.

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