President Trump is open to making recess appointments to fill key vacancies in his administration while the Senate is out of business in mid-March, White House counselor Kellyanne Conway said Tuesday.
“Everything’s on the table. All of that is being discussed,” Conway told conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt when asked during an interview if Trump might appoint his deputy secretary of defense and solicitor general on March 22, when the Senate departs for recess next month.
Conway’s comments come as Senate Democrats continue to delay confirmation of the president’s Cabinet nominees, only 13 of which have been appointed so far. Trump has hundreds more positions to fill that are subject to Senate approval and could use his recess-appointment powers to do so.
“To see sort of congenital, presumptive obstruction and negativity is very concerning,” Conway said. “It just means that the government can’t function fully, and that [Senate Democrats are] obstructing regardless of who the individual is that’s being considered, regardless of the post that needs to be filled.”
“And it’s very frustrating,” she added.
Conway’s husband, corporate attorney George Conway, is said to be on Trump’s short list for solictor general, but she told Hewitt on Tuesday it’s unlikely her husband will be chosen for the position.
