President-elect Donald Trump, then the GOP nominee, speaks at the Detroit Economic Club on Oct. 10, 2024 in Detroit, Michigan.  (Photo by Bill Pugliano/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON — Two days before a key meeting with President Joe Biden, President-elect Donald Trump has not yet signed the necessary paperwork to unlock resources for a smooth transfer of power from one presidential administration to another.

Trump’s transition spokesperson Brian Hughes told States Newsroom Monday that “The Trump-Vance transition lawyers continue to constructively engage with the Biden-Harris Administration lawyers regarding all agreements contemplated by the Presidential Transition Act.”

“We will update you once a decision is made,” Hughes said in a statement.

Biden will host Trump at the White House late Wednesday morning, according to his public schedule.

One of the agreements in question includes a memorandum of understanding between the Trump-Vance transition and the U.S. General Services Administration for office space, information technology services, and staff assistance, as outlined in the 2010 update to the Presidential Transition Act of 1963.

The services are available to the president-elect, and to major presidential candidates following nominating conventions, but come with financial disclosure requirements and a contribution cap of $5,000 on transition-related donations from any one person or organization.

The other is an MOU with the White House, negotiated by the incumbent and president-elect, to establish an ethics plan pertaining to members of the transition team and information sharing, including national security matters. The due date was Oct. 1.

‘Peaceful and orderly’ transition urged

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters Friday that Chief of Staff Jeff Zients has reached out to the Trump-Vance transition team’s co-chairs Linda McMahon and Howard Lutnick, both major campaign donors.

“So we’re going to leave that line of communications open. We’re going to be helpful here. We want to have an effective, efficient transition of power,” Jean-Pierre said.

Biden said Thursday from the White House Rose Garden that a “peaceful and orderly transition” is what “the American people deserve.”

The transition memoranda are available online, and the public can view the agreements filed in September by Vice President Kamala Harris, the 2024 Democratic presidential nominee who ultimately lost to Trump.

Raskin calls on Trump to act

Democratic Rep. Jamie Raskin, the top Democrat on the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Accountability, called on Trump’s campaign in October to complete the paperwork.

“Breaking the precedent set by every other presidential candidate since 2010, you have rejected these resources and refused to commit to a smooth transition,” Raskin wrote in an Oct. 23 letter.

The Maryland Democrat surmised in the letter that the Trump team’s paperwork delinquency “may be at least partially driven” by an attempt to skirt the financial disclosure and limit rules.

“With fewer than three weeks left until an election in which the American people will select a new President of the United States, I urge you to put the public’s interest in maintaining a properly functioning government above any personal financial or political interests you may perceive in boycotting the official transition law and process,” Raskin wrote.

In February 2021, the Biden-Harris administration filed a 1,021-page transition-related donation and expense disclosure.

President-elect Donald Trump said Monday he would nominate former U.S. Rep. Lee Zeldin, a New York Republican, as EPA administrator. In this photo, Zeldin speaks during his election night party on June 28, 2022 in Baldwin, New York, after winning the GOP primary for New York governor. He lost in the general election. (Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON — President-elect Donald Trump Monday said he will nominate former U.S. Rep. Lee Zeldin of New York to serve as head of the Environmental Protection Agency.

Zeldin, also a former GOP candidate for New York governor, said on social media that it would be an honor to be appointed to Trump’s Cabinet. The Senate, which Republicans will control next year, will have to confirm Zeldin’s nomination.

Zeldin does not necessarily come from an environmental background. He’s an attorney and currently serves as a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army Reserve. While in Congress from 2015 to 2023, he served on the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee and on the House Financial Services Committee.

“We will restore US energy dominance, revitalize our auto industry to bring back American jobs, and make the US the global leader of AI,” Zeldin wrote on X, formerly Twitter. “We will do so while protecting access to clean air and water.”

In a statement, Trump said that Zeldin comes from a “strong legal background,” and “has been a true fighter for America First policies.”

Zeldin serves as a chair of America First Policy Institute, a right-wing think tank that is packed with former Trump officials.

“He will ensure fair and swift deregulatory decisions that will be enacted in a way to unleash the power of American businesses, while at the same time maintaining the highest environmental standards, including the cleanest air and water on the planet,” Trump said. “He will set new standards on environmental review and maintenance, that will allow the United States to grow in a healthy and well-structured way.”

During Zeldin’s run for New York governor in 2022, a man attacked him on stage, but was quickly apprehended and Zeldin was uninjured.  New York Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul won the race.

Sen. John Thune, R-South Dakota, joined by Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, left, speaks at the Capitol on Sept. 29, 2021, in Washington, D.C.  Thune and Cornyn, along with Florida Sen. Rick Scott, are vying for the post of majority leader. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON — President-elect Donald Trump is making demands of the next Senate Republican leader ahead of a closed-door election this week, writing on social media that whoever is chosen should recess the chamber early next year so he can appoint whoever he wants without having to go through the confirmation process.

“Any Republican Senator seeking the coveted LEADERSHIP position in the United States Senate must agree to Recess Appointments (in the Senate!), without which we will not be able to get people confirmed in a timely manner,” Trump wrote. “Sometimes the votes can take two years, or more. This is what they did four years ago, and we cannot let it happen again.”

If the Senate were to recess for an extended period after Inauguration Day on Jan. 20, it would ensure Trump could freely make appointments to top-ranking positions in government, including the secretary of Defense and Treasury secretary, without needing the support of centrist GOP lawmakers. Senate Republicans are on track for a majority of 53 seats, with one race, in Arizona, still undecided.

Texas Sen. John Cornyn, Florida Sen. Rick Scott and South Dakota Sen. John Thune — who are competing for the majority leader post — all quickly got in line with social media posts of their own about what are called recess appointments.

“It is unacceptable for Senate Ds to blockade President  @realDonaldTrump’s cabinet appointments,” Cornyn wrote on social media. “If they do, we will stay in session, including weekends, until they relent. Additionally, the Constitution expressly confers the power on the President to make recess appointments.

“Article II, Section 2, Clause 3: The President shall have Power to fill up all Vacancies that may happen during the Recess of the Senate, by granting Commissions which shall expire at the End of their next Session.”

Thune wrote: “We must act quickly and decisively to get the president’s nominees in place as soon as possible, & all options are on the table to make that happen, including recess appointments. We cannot let Schumer and Senate Dems block the will of the American people.” Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat, is the Senate majority leader.

Scott commented on Trump’s original post, saying that he agreed “100%”

“I will do whatever it takes to get your nominations through as quickly as possible,” Scott said.

Skipping over the Senate’s advice and consent power would likely mean no committee hearings for nominees named through recess appointments, preventing them from having to answer lawmakers’ questions about their experience and policy goals.

It would also prevent senators from having to take what might be difficult floor votes on possibly controversial Trump nominees.

Trump has just started to announce who he’s selecting for posts in his next administration, naming a “border czar,” ambassador to the United Nations and EPA administrator as of Monday afternoon. 

Supreme Court ruling

The Senate has avoided recessing for more than three days in the middle of a session for years, under both Republican and Democratic majorities.

Instead, when the Senate leaves Capitol Hill for weeks at a time, the chamber holds what’s known as a pro forma session every three days to prevent recess appointments. Those usually last just a few minutes and don’t typically include any legislative business. 

The pro forma sessions, in part, stem from a unanimous Supreme Court ruling in June 2014 that held a president could fill vacancies during a congressional recess if it lasted more than 10 days.

“In light of historical practice, a recess of more than 3 days but less than 10 days is presumptively too short to fall within the Clause,” the justices wrote in National Labor Relations Board v. Noel Canning. 

That case began after then-President Barack Obama made three appointments to the National Labor Relations Board in 2012, even though the Democratic-controlled Senate was holding pro forma sessions every few days.

Opposition to Obama recess appointments

Republicans in Congress, including Thune and Cornyn, praised the Supreme Court’s decision at the time, sharply criticizing Obama for having tried to get around the Senate.

Thune released a written statement, saying the Supreme Court had blocked Obama from attempting “to violate the separation of powers.”

“When the president couldn’t get his appointments through the Senate, he decided to ignore the law and attempt an end run around Congress,” Thune wrote. “I am pleased that the Supreme Court unanimously rejected the president’s attempt to circumvent the Constitution. Today’s decision reaffirms the fact that Congress, not the president, has the authority to determine its own rules.”

Cornyn criticized Obama for making “unilateral actions” that gave “the perception he doesn’t care what Congress says.”

“As a matter of fact, this morning the Supreme Court rebuked the President on an illegal recess appointment — unconstitutional recess appointment,” Cornyn said during a floor speech, according to the Congressional Record.

Scott was not a member of Congress when the Supreme Court issued its ruling.

Iowa Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley at the time praised “the Supreme Court’s decision to strike down President Obama’s illegal recess appointments.”

“Article II, section 2 of the Constitution provides for only two ways in which Presidents may appoint certain officers: First, it provides that the President nominates and, by and with the advice of the Senate, appoints various officers,” Grassley said. “Second, it permits the President to make temporary appointments when a vacancy in one of those offices happens when the Senate is in recess.”

During Trump’s first term in office, Senate Republicans held pro forma sessions as a way to avoid recess appointments and ensure the chamber had the time to vet the people Trump wanted to run some of the most powerful institutions in the country, including the Defense Department.

Any recess appointments Trump might make in the future would expire at the end of the Senate’s “next session,” meaning he would need to go through the process all over again within two years, according to a report from the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service.

Election planned Wednesday

Senate Republicans will hold closed-door, secret ballot leadership elections Wednesday to select new colleagues to fill the top positions.

Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell, who has held the Republican leader title since 2007, opted not to continue in that role once the new Congress begins, leading to a three-way race between Cornyn, Scott and Thune.

Whoever Republicans elect as their next leader, along with the other members of the leadership team, will have a significant role determining the Senate’s agenda for the next two years as well as setting the tone with the incoming Trump administration.

They’ll also need to broker deals with Democrats on must-pass legislation, like the annual government funding bills and yearly defense policy bill.

Wyoming’s John Barrasso is running unopposed for the whip position, currently held by Thune and previously held by Cornyn.

Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton and Iowa’s Joni Ernst are competing to hold the No. 3 leadership position of Conference Chair, currently held by Barrasso.

Republicans will also elect a Policy Committee Chairman, Vice Chairman of the Conference and chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee to round out the six-person Senate leadership team.

Former Acting Director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement Thomas Homan speaks on stage on the third day of the Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum on July 17, 2024 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON — President-elect Donald Trump late Sunday announced he will appoint Tom Homan as “border czar” in his administration as Trump seeks to carry out his campaign commitment of mass deportations of immigrants who lack permanent legal status.

Homan is the former acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement in the previous Trump administration who backed the controversial “zero tolerance” policy that separated families at the southern border.

Homan will have authority over the southern border, northern border, the maritime border and aviation security, according to a post from Trump’s social media site, Truth Social. Trump did not in the social media post specify what exact government post Homan would occupy.

“I’ve known Tom for a long time, and there is nobody better at policing and controlling our Borders,” Trump said. “I have no doubt he will do a fantastic, and long awaited for, job.”

Another former Trump official who played a heavy role in immigration policy, Stephen Miller, will be appointed as White House deputy chief of staff for policy, according to CNN. Vice president-elect J.D. Vance congratulated Miller on X, formerly known as Twitter. 

As the incoming Trump administration plans to carry out mass deportations of people without proper legal status, Trump said Homan will be in charge of sending deported people back to their countries of origin. In order for that to happen, the country of origin must agree to accept those people the United States wants to deport.

Homan served as acting director of ICE from 2017 to 2018. In a recent interview with CBS News, he said that deportations would be targeted.

“It’s going to be a well-targeted, planned operation conducted by the men of ICE. The men and women of ICE do this daily. They’re good at it,” Homan said. “When we go out there, we’re going to know who we’re looking for. We most likely know where they’re going to be, and it’s going to be done in a humane manner.”

There are more than 14.4 million individuals who live in mixed status families, meaning that at least one member has a different legal status. During the interview, Homan was asked if mass deportations could happen without separating families.

“Of course there is,” he said. “Families can be deported together.”

Under the 2018 “zero tolerance” policy, at least 5,000 migrant families were separated. The Department of Homeland Security has reunited about 74% of those families, but there are still 998 children who have not been reunited.

Trump has previously declined to say whether he would resume family separations in a second term.

“Well, when you have that policy, people don’t come. If a family hears that they’re going to be separated, they love their family. They don’t come. So I know it sounds harsh,” Trump said during a CNN town hall in May 2023.