US President Donald Trump threatened on Wednesday to adjourn Congress to allow him to appoint officials whose nominations he claimed were being blocked by Democrats in the Senate.
“I will exercise my constitutional authority to adjourn both chambers of Congress,” Trump told reporters at the White House.
“I’d rather not use that power,” he said. “We’ll probably be challenged in court and we’ll see who wins.”
Trump accused Democrats in the Republican-controlled Senate of stalling the nominations of several top administration officials whose appointments require Senate confirmation.
The Constitution allows a president to make what are known as “recess appointments” when Congress is not in session.
Trump said he may take the unprecedented step of adjourning both the House and the Senate to allow him to make such appointments.
Although both the House and Senate have not been meeting amid the coronavirus pandemic they have not formally adjourned.