MAGA anger over Mitch McConnell’s alleged Trump recess comment

A number of MAGA figures have reacted angrily over alleged remarks from Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell regarding Donald Trump’s plans to push through his Cabinet choices via recess appointments rather than through the usual Senate confirmation process.

McConnell is alleged to have warned Trump’s team, “there will be no recess appointments,” during a meeting in Washington, D.C. The claim was reportedly made by New Yorker staff writer Jane Mayer in a since-deleted post on X, formerly Twitter.

The alleged quotes from McConnell that there would not be any recess appointments spread on social media, with Florida Senator Rick Scott posting: “Yes, there will be.” Utah Senator Mike Lee added: “Remember that time when McConnell decided he wouldn’t be speaking for Senate Republicans anymore?”

A number of Trump’s choices for next year’s Cabinet, including recently resigned Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz as attorney general and former Fox News host Pete Hegseth for defense secretary, have received bipartisan scrutiny and criticism amid concerns about their suitability for the roles.

Senate confirmations are passed with a simple majority vote. With the GOP on course to control the upper chamber with a 53-47 seat majority in the next congressional term, each of Trump’s picks cannot afford more than three Republican defectors.

Newsweek has contacted Trump’s transition team and McConnell’s office for comment via email.

The alleged remarks from McConnell also received anger from other MAGA figures online.

Nick Sortor, an independent journalist who regularly appears on right-wing news outlets and podcasts, posted: “I guess nobody told [McConnell] he’s no longer in charge McConnell has once again proven he is NOT on the side of Americans.”

Jeremy Carl, the deputy assistant secretary of the interior during the first Trump administration, added: “Nobody now in Washington, including elected Democrats, has caused more lasting damage to the conservative cause than Mitch McConnell.”

CJ Pearson, a political commentator and co-chair of the GOP Youth Advisory Council, wrote: “Nobody gives a damn about what Mitch McConnell has to say anymore.”

Trump said on November 10 that Republicans seeking to be the next Senate leader must agree to recess appointments in order “to get people confirmed in a timely manner.”

South Dakota Senator John Thune, who was selected as the new GOP Senate leader to replace McConnell in January, previously backed Trump’s calls to allow him to get his administration picks confirmed quickly.

“All options are on the table to make that happen, including recess appointments,” Thune, the current no.2 ranked Republican in the Senate behind McConnell, told Punchbowl News.

Newsweek has contacted Thune’s office for comment via email.

House Speaker Mike Johnson has not ruled out the use of recess appointments to allow Trump to push through his Cabinet picks and to ensure the president-elect’s “overwhelming” America First election win is followed through.

“The persons that the president is choosing will help with that agenda; they will take their leadership in these agencies, and they’ll reform them as the people expect and demand,” Johnson told Fox News Sunday.

“So we’ll evaluate all that at the appropriate time, and we’ll make the appropriate decision. There may be a function for that, and we’ll have to see how it plays out.”

The Constitution allows presidents to fill out their administrations while the Senate is in recess to prevent important roles from going unfulfilled. This rule was put in place because Congress would sometimes go on monthslong breaks in the early days of the country’s formation.

The Supreme Court ruled in 2014, during Barack Obama’s presidency, that the Senate must recess or adjourn for 10 days before a president can make any appointments.

If the Senate refuses to recess but the House does, the Constitution would allow Trump to adjourn the entire Congress, reported Axios.

Democratic Delaware Senator Chris Coons believes his GOP colleagues would not agree to a recess to allow Trump’s Cabinet picks to go through without a vote.

“They understand our constitutional role,” Coons told Fox News Sunday. “We’re a check and balance. We’re there to be a guardrail.”

Past presidents have used recess appointments, although President Joe Biden has not, and neither did Trump in his first term in office.

President Barack Obama made 32 recess appointments, President Bill Clinton made 139, and President George W. Bush made 171, according to the Congressional Research Service.