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Shutdown Showdown

In yet another tantrum thrown by US President Donald Trump, the “king” - as New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has nicknamed him - on Wednesday threatened to adjourn Congress in order to make appointments during their recess amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Sputnik

During the White House’s Wednesday Coronavirus Task Force briefing, Trump proclaimed that there is “a concerted effort" by congressional Democrats to purposely “make life difficult” by refusing to confirm his nominations for several vacant offices. 

Presently, the Senate is on break until at least May 4 in an effort to avoid transmitting the novel coronavirus, a move that makes its functions fairly limited, and the confirmation process has stalled. 

Trump stated that he currently has 129 nominees "stuck in the Senate because of partisan obstruction," including the director of national intelligence, two members of the Federal Reserve board of governors and several undersecretaries of different US government departments.

"If the House will not agree to that adjournment, I will exercise my constitutional authority to adjourn both chambers of Congress," the president proclaimed, going on to accuse lawmakers of "a dereliction of duty" and "a scam" for "leaving town during a crisis.” 

Although Congress is in recess due to the coronavirus pandemic, it is possible to get them to convene to vote on such decisions. 

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