Scoop: Mike Johnson's recess surprise

• Several House Republicans would vote against any motion to go into recess, Axios has learned.
• Trump's plan to circumvent the Senate's "advice and consent" role is complicated, but there's a clear constitutional provision that gives him the power to adjourn Congress, which would open the door for a recess appointment.

Zoom in: For Trump's plan to work, he needs the cooperation of Speaker Mike Johnson, with nearly every other House Republican.

• Trump is convinced that Johnson is on board. But Johnson can only afford to lose two or three lawmakers on a vote to go into recess.
• If Johnson lacks a majority, Trump will be denied his pretext to force Congress to adjourn.
• "The advise and consent responsibility is given to the Senate and the Constitution. They need to take that seriously, and they will," Johnson told reporters Tuesday.

What they're saying: Some House Republicans have deep reservations about recessing the House just to give Trump the power to use recess appointments.

• "I've already said we shouldn't be going into recess," said Rep. Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.).
• "It will be something that I'd discuss with leadership first before being public," Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.) told Axios. "I don't want to say either way out of respect to the Speaker. I owe him to talk to him first."

Zoom out: Days after the election, Trump demanded that the candidates to be Senate majority leader accept his power to use recess appointments.

• All of the leading candidates, including eventual winner Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.), agreed with Trump in principle.
• In practice, there are doubts about whether the Senate would agree to go into recess if they know the only purpose would be to install nominees who are shy of the 50 votes needed for confirmation.

• Many Senate Republicans are privately indicating Gaetz doesn't have the votes.

Reality check: Senate Democrats are outraged by the prospect of recess appointments, but recent Democratic presidents have also used it when it met their needs.

• Former President Obama made 32 recess appointments and was rebuked by the Supreme Court for using it when Congress was only out for three days. The Senate needs to be out for 10 days, the court ruled.

The bottom line: For Trump's strategy to work, he needs to have the House and Senate in "disagreement" over adjourning, according to Article II, Section 3 of the Constitution.

• If both the House and Senate agree to stay in session, Trump loses the constitutional pretext for a recess appointment.
• That gives the power to deny Trump to pack his Cabinet to a handful of House Republicans, if all Democrats are also opposed.