About this episode

The episode discusses whether Donald Trump can summon Congress back to address the DHS shutdown and explores the military community's perspective on Iran.

On the surface, the question of whether Donald Trump can actually force Congress back to Washington to deal with the DHS shutdown sounds simple and dramatic. The Senate is gone, the House is gone, and yet, the problem is sitting there unresolved. Trump, Mike Johnson, and some Republicans are saying they should come back and fix it. The reality is a lot less cinematic. Right now, the Senate is technically in session but only barely. They are holding what are called pro forma sessions, which is basically the minimum effort required to say they are still working. One senator shows up, gavels in, gavels out, and everyone else stays wherever they already are. That setup is not an accident. It is designed specifically so nobody has to come back and take uncomfortable votes, even if there is business that could be handled quickly. There is a constitutional argument floating around that Trump could intervene. Article II, Section 3 gives the president the authority to convene Congress on extraordinary occasions, and some legal interpretations say that power is fairly broad. At least on paper, that sounds like a path. If this is a crisis, then call them back and make them deal with it. But…

People in this episode

Host: Justin Robert Young

Guest: Riley Blanton

Topics covered

• Trump
• Congress
• DHS shutdown
• military community
• Iran
• constitutional authority

Keywords

• Trump
• Congress
• DHS shutdown
• military community
• Iran
• constitutional authority
• Mike Johnson
• Riley Blanton

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Congress, DHS

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