One thing I don’t know- what are the requirements to hold a pro forma session to avoid a recess and thus recess appointments? Can Democrats decide on their own to have such a session? Does the recess motion require 2/3 or a majority?
I hope there are enough GOP Senators that want to and have the courage to block Gaetz. But I suspect Collins will merely furrow her brow and knuckle under.
Maybe.
But I found this:
So does Trump just have to wait until late April to have his enemies locked up?
Or is this all too legalistic when the President is now allowed to violate the law when engaging in official activity?
One thing is that they have to allow to conduct business. So theoretically, if the Dems want to play hard ball they could all show up and make a Quorum Call and have the unexcused Republicans arrested and brought to the chamber.
“Just call me ‘Bernie’ Gaetz!”
As with everything Trump, once he’s violated that norm, it becomes the new norm. Allow him the recess appointments, and, true bully style, every appointment thereafter will be “Meet me outside at recess.”
I’ve posted this elsewhere , but there was a Xweet from The Daily Show, reacting to the Gaetz nomination with:
Does anyone know if the Department of Justice is within 1500 feet of a school?
The motion to adjourn in the Senate only requires a majority and is nondebatable (i.e. cannot be filibustered). The motion will typically state when the Senate will reconvene – this is amendable, but the amendments are nondebatable. So – if they wanted to – Senate Republicans shouldn’t have any problem passing an adjournment of more than ten days (which is the standard the courts have recognized for the Senate being in a recess applicable to the recess appointment power).
Forgive me if this point has already been made, but I’m just skimming this thread…
I see Czarcasm has made a hint:
I also believe Trump has two lists. But, this list isn’t just supposed to be vetoed, but also identify those who will stand in his way. IMO, the best thing to do is for those Repub Senators who are willing to fight Trump is to keep their heads down and go with the flow. The idiots Trump has nominated are not going to be able to lead a fly to shit, so let them try. It’s better than having Trump find some half-way capable traitors to fill in for round two.
Templeton Academy is about 1000 feet away from the DOJ building on Pennsylvania Avenue.
From Threads: This isn’t a cabinet, it’s a junk drawer.
They aren’t meant to lead, they’re meant to destroy. It’s similar to your theory about outing recalcitrant Senators, except it goes the other way down the Org Chart. These guys will order their staff to do something stupid, destructive and/or illegal, and every staffer who pushes back will be put on a list. They’ll fire whoever they can immediately, and re-assign anyone they can’t shitcan to a shit detail. Eventually resistance to the stupidity will disappear.
A lot of people being put on shit details will quit instead, which is all good as far as Trump is concerned.
I’m guessing the intent is to have them act as Trump’s version of Joe McCarthy.
If it were just Gaetz, Gabbard, etc. that Trump was appointing to these agencies, I’d be more inclined to this viewpoint. These people are absolute clowns who have no idea how to push their agenda through a bureaucracy.
But it’s the next level down — the Deputy and Undersecretaries who more directly oversee operations — where Republicans will plant their apparatchiks who DO know what they’re doing to weaponize the instruments of government to serve Trump’s interests.
And RFK Junior is to be nominated as HHS secretary.
If late-era Stalin is any example, they won’t have time to run their departments: Trump will keep them up all night at Mar-a-Lago, dancing on the tables while he throws wadded up bread at them.
I wonder how many Republican senators take donations from Pfizer.
Just about spit out my coffee when I read that. I recall he’s an anti-science nutter. Yea, just what we need for HHS. 
Without a doubt, every single Senate Democrat will vote unanimously against someone like Gaetz. The only thing then is that a few Republican Senators must defect as well.
It’s a test to see if all the Republican senators rubber-stamp Trump’s obviously unqualified Cabinet candidates.
So far Murkowski is sounding like a no as well as Susan Collins (yeah, I know).
Today Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) called for the House Ethics Committee report to be made available to the Senate before any hearing on Gaetz. He said he would be in favor of issuing a subpoena to get the report if needed.
Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-ND) said “I think all but Gaetz are very doable — maybe not lovable, but doable.”
That’s probably an indication this may be a red line for enough Senators to sink Gaetz as AG.
We will see.