Instead of President Trump adjourning Congress so he can make “recess appointments” to executive agencies and judges, Congress should reconvene to do the people’s business.
We have argued before in favor of allowing remote voting temporarily. This is something now under consideration. But if Congress cannot figure out a plan to do so without fear of legal challenges, they have to figure out an alternative way to reopen safely.
To allow members of Congress from the West Coast to return to Washington, D.C., by car, if necessary, the date of reconvening could be pushed back. But reconvene they must. Especially in a time of crisis, Congress should be ready to legislate and provide oversight of other branches. Most importantly, Congress should not let executive and judicial positions go unfilled. This crisis requires all hands on deck.
This isn’t to say all 10,000 or so congressional staffers should be populating the U.S. Capitol complex, nor that senators and representatives should mingle at close quarters. Most staff should work remotely, and members should keep mostly to sanitized offices, with temperature checks at least twice daily. The legislative floor of both branches should observe strict rules limiting in-person seating or standing only to a small number at a time, a version of distancing rules at most big-box stores that remain open across the country if deemed “essential businesses.”
Voting periods should be extended — in the House, substantially — to allow these rules to operate smoothly. If the voting time were extended for hours, no more than a few representatives would need to be in the chamber at the same time.
One way or another, though, whether by remote or a modified in-person system, Congress should be in session. At last count, the Senate had not acted on 82 executive branch nominations, with another 15 in the pipeline. Trump hasn’t made his selection for another 150 vacant posts, but until the other 97 are confirmed, he has little incentive to do so.
With the federal government trying to handle so many added responsibilities and new programs amid the pandemic, it is unconscionable to leave executive agencies short-handed. Bottlenecks in aid or supply delivery could cost people their livelihoods, their health, or even their jobs.
Likewise, there are now 82 federal judicial vacancies, with Trump having chosen nominees for 43 of them. The Senate should do its work and confirm any and all who are qualified for their posts.
Finally, there is more legislating to be done. This being a crisis, some of it may require unusual dispatch. If members of Congress are present in the Capitol complex and able, in a pinch, to talk to each other in person, it will be far easier for them to act with due speed and consideration.
If the public is trying to get back to work, Congress should be working to make it happen.
