April 17, 2020
Washington, DC
Signatures updated: 4/19/20
In his rose garden press conference on April 15, 2020, the President announced his intent to exercise his constitutional power to adjourn both houses of Congress to allow him to fill vacancies within his administration.
“The Senate should either fulfill its duty and vote on my nominees or it should formally adjourn so that I can make recess appointments. We have a tremendous number of people that have to come into government. And now more so than before because of the virus…. If the House will not agree to that adjournment, I will exercise my constitutional authority to adjourn both chambers of Congress. The current practice of leaving town while conducting phony pro-forma sessions is a dereliction of duty that the American people cannot afford during this crisis. It is a scam what they do. It’s a scam and everybody knows it and it’s been that way for a long time. And perhaps it’s never been done before, nobody’s even sure if it has, but we’re going to do it. We need these people here. We need people for this crisis and we don’t want to play any more political games.”
Article II, Section 3, of the Constitution states that the President may, “on extraordinary occasions, convene both Houses, or either of them, and in case of disagreement between them, with respect to the time of adjournment, he may adjourn them to such time as he shall think proper.”
While we strongly support the Senate’s advice and consent role in judicial and executive nominations, the calculated obstruction by Senate Democrats combined with the Senate’s 2 ½ day workweek has resulted in an unprecedented backlog in executive appointments. And now, due to an emergency situation caused by the Chinese coronavirus, the House and Senate have gone into an extended recess leaving critical positions unfilled. These positions include 129 nominees, such as the Director of National Intelligence, two members of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, the Assistant Secretary of Treasury for Financial Markets, and the Undersecretary of Agriculture responsible for administering food security programs.
We urge the President and Senate leadership to work together to immediately invoke Article II Section 3, adjourn both houses of Congress, and use his recess appointment power to fill key positions with strong conservative candidates
| The Honorable Edwin Meese III Attorney General President Ronald Reagan (1985-1988) |
Alfred S. Regnery Chairman, Conservative Action Project Chairman, Law Enforcement Legal Defense Fund |
| The Honorable Jim DeMint Chairman, Conservative Partnership Institute Member, US Senate (SC 2005-2013) |
The Honorable Charles J. Cooper Assistant Attorney General, President Ronald Reagan Cooper & Kirk, PLLC |
| L. Brent Bozell, III Founder and President Media Research Center |
Ed Corrigan Vice Chairman, Conservative Action Project President, Conservative Partnership Institute |
| Rachel Bovard Senior Director of Policy Conservative Partnership Institute (CPI) |
David Bozell President ForAmerica |
| Mary Vought Executive Director Senate Conservatives Fund |
The Honorable T. Kenneth Cribb, Jr. Chief Domestic Advisor President Ronald Reagan (1987-1988) |
| The Honorable David McIntosh President Club for Growth |
Myron Ebell Director, Center for Energy and Environment Competitive Enterprise Institute |
| The Honorable Colin A. Hanna President Let Freedom Ring, Inc. |
Cleta Mitchell, Esq. Partner Foley & Lardner LLP |
| The Honorable Bob McEwen U.S. House of Representatives Former Member, Ohio |
Noah Wall Vice President of Advocacy FreedomWorks |
| The Honorable Matt Schlapp Chairman American Conservative Union (ACU) |
William L. Walton President Council for National Policy |
| Jenny Beth Martin Chairman Tea Party Patriots Citizen Fund |
The Honorable J. Kenneth Blackwell Chairman Constitutional Congress, Inc. |
| Herman Pirchner, Jr. Founding President American Foreign Policy Council (AFPC) |
The Honorable Morton C. Blackwell President The Leadership Institute |
| David N. Bossie President Citizens United |
Ron Robinson President Young America’s Foundation |
| The Honorable Scott Walker President-elect Young America’s Foundation |
Eunie Smith President Eagle Forum |
| Kay R. Daly President Coalition for a Fair Judiciary |
Judson Phillips Founder Tea Party Nation |
| Joan Holt Lindsey President Lindsey Communications |
Jason Jones President Movie to Movement |
| Sandy Rios Director of Governmental Affairs AFA |
Kirk Uhler Executive Director National Tax Limitation Committee |
| The Honorable Penny Pullen President Life Advocacy Resource Project |
Jake Hoffman President & CEO Rally Forge |
| Ambassador Henry F. Cooper President Reagan’s Chief Defense and Space Negotiator Former SDI Director |
Sean Noble President American Encore |
| J. Christian Adams President Public Interest Legal Foundation |
Terry Schilling Executive Director American Principles Project |
| The Honorable George K. Rasley Jr. Managing Editor ConservativeHQ.com |
Andy Blom President Hawaiian Values |
| Gary Marx President Madison Strategies LLC |
William W. Pascoe, III Board Member Tea Party Patriots Action |
| Willes K. Lee President National Federation of Republican Assemblies |
Richard Norman Founder and President The Richard Norman Company |
| Allen Roth President Secure America Now |
Seton Motley President Less Government |
| Kielle C. Horton President The Lindsey Foundation |
The Honorable Peter Thomas Chairman The Conservative Caucus |
| C. Preston Noell III President Tradition, Family, Property, Inc. |
Tim LeFever Chairman Capitol Resource Institute |
| Susan Carleson Chairman/CEO Carleson Center for Welfare Reform |
Gregory Quinlan President The Center for Garden State Families |
| James L. Martin Founder/Chairman 60 Plus Association |
Robert Keith Fischer Meeting Coordinator Conservatives of Faith |
| Paul Gessing President Rio Grande Foundation |
Saulius “Saul” Anuzis President 60 Plus Association |
| Floyd Brown Publisher The Western Journal |
Charlie Copeland President Intercollegiate Studies Institute |
| Dr. Jerome R. Corsi, Ph.D. Founder and CEO CorsiNation.com |
William Shaker CEO Washington Marketing Group |
| Paavo Ensio Chairman Universal Minerals Group |
Lori Roman President American Constitutional Rights Union |
| Chad Connelly President Faith Wins |
Allen J. Hebert Chairman American-Chinese Fellowship of Houston |
| Rob Gluskin Managing Partner Gluskin Investment Partners |
Dr. Richard Rounsavelle Trustee Media Research Center |
| Roxanne Phillips Member, Executive Committee Council National Policy |
Nancy Schulze Member Women for Trump Advisory Board |
| The Honorable Gary L. Bauer President American Values |
Elaine Donnelly President Center for Military Readiness |
| E.W. Jackson President STAND Foundation, Inc. |
The Honorable Mike Hill Representative Florida State House |
| Amy Kremer Chairman Women for America First |
Tim Wildmon President American Family Association |
| Dr. Rick W. Scarborough President Recover America Now |
Amapola Hansberger President Legal Immigrants for America |
| Marlin Sharp Field Director STAND Foundation, Inc. |
Darrel Johnson CEO Attic Corp |
| Mario Navarro da Costa Director, Washington Bureau Tradition, Family, Property |
Terrence Scanlon Retired Chairman US Consumer Product Safety Commission |
| Donna Hearne CEO Constitutional Coalition |
All organizations listed for IDENTIFICATION purposes only.
