Reading Room Document

Recess Appointments Amid Pro Forma Senate Sessions

A twenty-day Senate recess may give rise to presidential authority to make recess appointments. Congress's provision for pro forma sessions during that twenty-day period does not have the legal effect of interrupting the recess for purposes of the Recess Appointments Clause. In this context, the President has discretion to conclude that the Senate is unavailable to perform its advise-and-consent function and may exercise his power to make recess appointments. The OLC does not provide release dates for its opinions, so the release date listed is the date on which the opinion was authored. The original opinion is available at www.justice.gov/olc/file/2012-01-06-recess-appts/download.

January 6, 2012