Does President Trump Have Power to Adjourn Congress to Avoid Impeachment?

Maybe. It’s never been done, nor tried, nor suggested—not by President Andrew Johnson, not by President Richard Nixon, and not by President Bill Clinton. But President Donald Trump appears to have an unlimited view of his powers.

Article II of the U.S. Constitution states that the president “may, on extraordinary Occasions, convene both Houses, or either of them, and in Case of Disagreement between them, with Respect to the Time of Adjournment, he may adjourn them to such Time as he shall think proper." 

While many people know that the president can call a special session of Congress, it is less well known that he can actually adjourn them if they disagree about when they want to adjourn.

Suppose that in 2019 the House is under Democratic control and the Senate is under Republican control. Further suppose that the Democrats in the House start impeachment proceedings. As a procedural move, suppose the Senate Leader (presumably Mitch McConnell) disagrees with the Democratic Speaker on a date to adjourn—and further suppose that Senate Republicans would want to force an end to any impeachment proceedings by using this tactic.

That would appear to open the door to President Trump to adjourn Congress—and indefinitely because the text says “he may adjourn them to such Time as he shall think proper.”

So, why did the framers give the president the power to adjourn Congress? 

It was done to preserve the president’s power to veto legislation and send back objections to Congress for reconsideration. 

Recall that a bill does not become a law until the president signs it.

Or, the president cannot sign the bill for ten days. This is called a pocket veto. The bill still becomes a law, with one major exception. As the U.S. Senate explains to the public: “The Constitution grants the president 10 days to review a measure passed by the Congress. If the president has not signed the bill after 10 days, it becomes law without his signature. However, if Congress adjourns during the 10-day period, the bill does not become law.”

The idea behind the “adjournment power” is to keep a bill alive for the president to veto, send back to Congress with objections, and force another attempt to find compromise legislation. This requires one chamber to set the table for this veto process by disagreeing with the other chamber on adjournment.

Constitutional framers did not intend the adjournment power to be used as a banana republic dictator version of adjourning the Congress. But, if you’re a textualist and if you support President Trump through thick and thin, there is an argument for this seemingly unimaginable use of presidential power.

However and whenever the Trump presidency ends, it appears that Article II of the Constitution is too vague and places too much trust in a president not to abuse power—and it is possible, though not clear, that the constitutional framers assumed that the judiciary and Congress would check presidential abuses.

If you want to read more on this topic, and https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/common/briefing/Senate_Impeachment_Role.htm, and

https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/resources/pdf/6Rulesrevisionreport1986.pdf.