President Donald Trump has doubled down on his warning that the Senate must confirm his nominees for government posts before its members can take their traditional month-long summer break.
Earlier this month, the president suggested the cancellation of the August recess, due to start Monday, to Senate Majority Leader John Thune. After flattering Thune by calling him “very talented,” he suggested senators could even work through long weekends to confirm his “incredible” nominees. “We need them badly!!!” he said.
The president returned to the idea of dumping the summer recess in a fired-up Truth Social screed on Thursday.
He wrote: “The Senate must stay in Session, taking no recess, until the entire Executive Calendar is CLEAR!!! We have to save our Country from the Lunatic Left.
“Republicans, for the health and safety of the USA, DO YOUR JOB, and confirm All Nominees. They should NOT BE FORCED TO WAIT. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”
There are an estimated 1,300 nominees who require confirmation by the Senate for jobs in the executive branch and independent agencies, with more than 160 of those ready for a vote.
The backlog Trump wants senators to work through means they would forfeit a break scheduled from Aug. 4 to Sept. 1. Senators can use that month to try and sell Trump’s policies to voters in their home states, ahead of midterm elections.
The president followed up his “No recess for you” post with a snide “How to vote” tip for his party.
He posted on Truth Social, “Republicans, when in doubt, vote the exact opposite of Senator Susan Collins. Generally speaking, you can’t go wrong. Thank you for your attention to this matter and, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”
The Maine Republican voted against two of Trump’s bills this year, including his One Big Beautiful Bill Act, and opposed some of his high-profile Cabinet nominees.
Last week, Thune said he had not ruled out keeping Republicans in Washington instead of having summer recess.
“We’re thinking about it. We want to get as many [nominations] through the pipeline as we can,” Thune said of keeping Trump happy.
He added, “Trying to get his team in place is something that we’re very committed to and we’re going to be looking at all the options in the next few weeks to try and get as many of those across the finish line as we can.”
Thune has previously worked overtime to get Trump what he wants. He pulled an all-nighter to amass enough votes from his party to pass Trump’s “Big Beautiful” budget bill after the president demanded it be ready for his signature by July 4.
