Senate GOP eyes recess appointments as stalemate drags on

• "The Senate should immediately adjourn and let President Trump use recess appointments to enact the agenda 77M Americans voted for," Sen. Roger Marshall (R-Kan.) posted on Saturday.
• Recess appointments, as well as using the so-called nuclear option to change chamber rules with a simple majority to expedite the confirmation process, are becoming real possibilities as talks drag into the evening.
• The Senate is in session on an August weekend, voting on nominations, as Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.), Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and the White House struggle to find a compromise.

How it works: Recess appointments would give Trump leeway to jam through numerous nominees without having to go through the usual Senate confirmation process.

• The Senate would have to agree to adjourn with a majority vote, and the House also would have to come back in town and agree to adjourn and cancel scheduled pro-forma days.
• Those nominees would only be able to serve through the end of 2026, and without payment.

Zoom in: Schumer wants the White House to release withheld federal funding in exchange for passing a small batch of uncontroversial nominees, per a source familiar.

• Democrats are also willing to commit to another batch later in the year — but only if it is formally written into an agreement that the deal is off if the White House as much as sends over another rescissions package.
• Republicans continue to point out that Democratic stonewalling is unprecedented. Typically, even the minority party ultimately allows some level of deference to the party in power and allows lower-level nominations to move more quickly.

What's next: Both sides were still trading offers as of early Saturday evening.

• "All options remain on the table," a Thune spokesperson told Axios.