Some House Republicans are prepared to block President-elect Trump from using a recess appointment on attorney general nominee Matt Gaetz.

Why it matters: In the case of recess appointments, the House can use a procedural trick to block a president from bypassing the Senate.

• However, several House Republicans would vote against any motion to go into recess, we have learned, which would thwart Trump's plan to circumvent the Senate's "advice and consent" role.

Zoom in: Trump is convinced he has the cooperation of Speaker Mike Johnson, 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.

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.

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— Hans Nichols and Andrew Solender

Neither of the House members who oversee the administration of the lower chamber have a clear answer on how Mike Johnson's new transgender bathroom ban will be enforced.

Why it matters: Enforceability has been a point of tension for years over state laws on bathroom access. Now Johnson is bringing that fight to Congress' doorstep.

• Johnson told reporters today that "like all policies, it's enforceable" but did not offer any specifics.
• Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.), who first raised the issue this week in an effort to target transgender Rep.-elect Sarah McBride (D-Del.), has suggested having the House sergeant-at-arms enforce the ban.

What they're saying: "I think the speaker's statement speaks for itself," House Administration Committee Chair Bryan Steil (R-Wis.) told us when asked about enforcement.

• Rep. Joe Morelle (D-N.Y.), Steil's Democratic counterpart, said he hasn't seen the language of the ban and that it's "not clear exactly who's being banned."
• "I have no idea how it's going to be" enforced, Morelle added, jokingly suggesting Mace and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) be appointed as "bathroom monitors."
• One House Republican, speaking on the condition of anonymity, suggested the ban would have to be "socially enforced," with people in bathrooms individually reporting violations.

Between the lines: In the case of McBride, who will be the first openly transgender member of Congress, it's likely a moot point.

• "I'm not here to fight about the bathrooms. ... Like all members, I will follow the rules as outlined by Speaker Johnson, even if I disagree with them," she said in a statement today.
• The ban, which affects the House side of the Hill's office buildings as well, could still be an issue for transgender staff members and potentially even visitors.

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— Andrew Solender

One heck of a leak ripped straight into view immediately after the House Ethics Committee deadlocked this afternoon on the Gaetz report.

• 🧨 The New York Times published a redacted chart (see it here) it says traces a web of thousands of dollars in payments to women who said they had sex with Gaetz for money, according to testimony to investigators.
• The chart's title: "VENMO TRANSACTIONS BETWEEN ALL INDIVIDUALS AS OF 09/14/20".

Why it matters: Johnson won his initial fight to stop the report from going public. But now he'll deal with the fallout.

• "This purposeful leaking of classified investigative materials is the sort of politicized D.O.J. weaponization that Matt Gaetz will end," Trump communications director Steven Cheung told the Times.
• The Venmo payments between 2017 and 2019 were reported last night by ABC News.

The AG-nominee told reporters he's focused on his confirmation, not the probe.

• Gaetz has denied all wrongdoing in the inquiry.

— Justin Green