One of President Donald Trump’s best nicknames bestowed on one of his biggest critics came when he dubbed Sen. Liz Warren (D-Mass.) “Pocahontas.” That was a reference to the fact that in 1986, she identified as “American Indian” on her application for the Texas state bar. When her cover was blown later, she was unflappable in her tone-deaf attacks on conservatives in general and Trump in particular.
It would seem that from the minute she wakes up until she lies down at the end of the day in her lair, she just attacks and tries to sabotage any conservative or conservative idea that crosses her path.
But she has nothing on the willful, do-nothing Republicans in the U.S. Senate. They have waged a procedural war on the Trump administration in order to block the president’s ability to make recess appointments.
To achieve this, technically, they don’t go on recess.
Here’s how that works. The Senate, which is controlled by Republicans at the moment, is allowed to hold brief sessions every few days. These are called “pro forma” sessions, which technically mean the Senate is not in recess. Every pro forma session counts as Senate being in session. This prevents Trump from making recess appointments.
This is how the GOP Senate blocks Trump from recess appointments.
2 minute pro forma sessions every few days during their vacation.
Only POTUS in history that has had recess appointments blocked by his own party.
Think about that.
Traitors.
Sickening.pic.twitter.com/ZH9tjnFplG
— C3 (@C_3C_3) March 27, 2026
This has worked against Trump. Republicans have successfully prevented (undermined?) a Republican president who’s just trying to fill certain judicial and other critical positions in government.
Republicans have also done the same to Barack Obama. According to the Wilson Center, “When Republicans retook the House in 2011, Speaker John A. Boehner of Ohio, in consultation with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, turned the tables by forcing the Senate (and, by default, the House) to hold pro forma sessions during two recesses to block President Barack Obama from making any recess appointments.”
If you’re wondering why Republicans would do that to a Republican administration, the answers won’t surprise you. It’s not about finding and appointing the best possible candidates so as to “Make America Great Again.” Rather, it’s about power, control, and something that might make you sick to your stomach. It’s about Republicans in the Senate, not liking conservatism, knowingly and actively working against the Trump administration to assure it achieves nothing or close to nothing in the Senate.
The Senate sees Trump’s legal and ethical efforts to bring conservatives into the government as an attempt to undermine its power. Trump poses a threat to the Senate’s power, and that will not be tolerated. So, this do-nothing gaggle of Republicans In Name Only (RINOs) join with the Democrats to block Trump’s progress on appointments.
The vast majority of senators, including most Republicans have hopped planes and skedaddled out of Washington for places unknown for yet another recess. But a few have stayed back to conduct pro forma sessions to keep the lights on in the Senate, which technically is not in recess.
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson acknowledged as much and tried to bring some clarity on what the House is trying to do about all of this, specifically on paying DHS and TSA. Still, this does not address the way Senate Republicans have used pro forma to slow Trump’s other progress.
Kilmeade: What does the Senate do with it. I heard they left town.
Johnson: They will go back into pro forma session and anybody can make a unanimous consent and hope that it can be passed. If no one objects then it automatically happens.
Kilmeade: But if a Democrat says they… pic.twitter.com/WpEbktHdfa
— Acyn (@Acyn) March 27, 2026
At the moment, when we talk about the midterm elections, conservatives have focused on the effort to keep majorities in the House and the Senate, but “Senate Republicans” aren’t even hiding the fact that when elected they will undermine the conservative agenda. This is a serious problem, and it needs to be addressed soon. Trump only has a little less than three years left in his term. Things have to happen now, and the biggest obstacles we face are Republican swamp creatures in Washington.
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