What are recess appointments? What to know about Trump’s plans for the Senate

President-elect Donald Trump has called on the next Senate majority leader to allow recess appointments — a centuries-old practice that permits the president to temporarily bypass Congress.

“Any Republican Senator seeking the coveted LEADERSHIP position in the United States Senate must agree to Recess Appointments (in the Senate!), without which we will not be able to get people confirmed in a timely manner,” he wrote in a Nov. 10 post on Truth Social.

“We need positions filled IMMEDIATELY!” Trump, who won a resounding victory against Vice President Kamala Harris, added. Soon after this, multiple contenders for the majority leader position — including Florida Sen. Rick Scott and South Dakota Sen. John Thune — signaled their openness to allowing recess appointments.

Senate Republicans are scheduled to meet Nov. 13 to decide via secret ballot who will replace Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell as the next GOP leader in the Senate, which flipped from Democratic to Republican control in the election.

—The Charlotte Observer

California voters reject Proposition 6 to ban forced labor in prisons

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California voters rejected Proposition 6, a measure that would have banned forced labor in jails and prisons. The Associated Press called the race Sunday evening. Prop 6 was failing 46%-54% Monday, according to numbers from the Secretary of State.

If approved, Prop. 6 would have removed language in the California constitution that allows involuntary servitude as punishment for a crime. It had no formal opposition and was supported by criminal justice reformers and the California Legislative Black Caucus.

Its supporters said in a statement they would not give up the fight to “preserve basic human dignity.”

“The failure of California to abolish slavery in our state constitution perpetuated a system that exploits our most vulnerable communities,” said Dorsey Nunn, co-founder of All of Us or None, a group that advocates for current and formerly incarcerated people.

—The Sacramento Bee

Is banning DEI in college courses the next step for Texas?

Texas lawmakers are eyeing how DEI is woven into college courses and how much influence faculty senates have on campuses. A group of senators met on Monday to debate two issues that are some of Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick’s legislative properties for next year’s session.

Patrick wants legislators to review the role of faculty senates and enforce Texas’ ban on diversity, equity and inclusion programs at state colleges and universities.

The DEI ban, which passed last year, has exceptions for research and course instruction. However, during Monday’s hearing, lawmakers suggested that instruction might be targeted next.

“While DEI-related curriculum and course content does not explicitly violate the letter of the law, it indeed contradicts its spirit,” said Sen. Brandon Creighton, R-Conroe, who authored the DEI ban and oversees the Senate higher education subcommittee.

—The Dallas Morning News

Scholz on Trump: 'You dance with those who are in the room'

BERLIN — German Chancellor Olaf Scholz seems unfazed about the prospect of future cooperation with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, saying you have to take political situations as they come.

"My principle is always, if I may say so casually: You dance with those who are in the room. And that also applies to the future president of the U.S.," Scholz told a Sunday evening talk show on public broadcaster ARD.

"I'm never naive, but I'm also a bit unflustered," he said.

During his first term as U.S. president, Trump had heavily criticized Germany for what he deemed to be insufficient military spending, the country's trade surplus, and the German-Russian gas pipeline Nord Stream 2.

—dpa