I am placing this in Outside the Beltway, as it is not significant enough for Washington Politics, yet it bears mentioning.
Trump may not be the brightest bulb in the world, but Pelosi has shown ignorance numerous times and this gem is her latest:
In a letter sent Thursday to the president, Pelosi said that Congress has “an opportunity to work in a bipartisan way to pass gun violence prevention background checks.” However, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has said he will not bring the Senate into a special session.
“Today, as Speaker of the House, I am writing in good faith to request that you call the United States Senate back into session immediately under your powers in Article II Section 3 of the Constitution to consider House-passed bipartisan gun violence prevention legislation,” she wrote.
(Note from OP: This is NOT about the gun control issue, merely about the Article II question.)
President Trump CANNOT call the Senate (or for that matter the House) into special session, as neither body is in adjournment. In fact, neither body is in formal recess. Both Houses are holding pro forma sessions every three days during the August recess, meaning (as the Supreme Court recently confirmed during the recess appointment case) that both Houses are considered to be in session. Even if President Trump wanted to, he cannot call the Senate into session as it ALREADY IS IN SESSION, and will be until the sine die adjournment of the First Session of the 116th Congress which itself will likely be simultaneous with the convening of the Second Session.
A President can only summon Congress (or either House) into special session if Congress is in a period of sine die adjournment. In the modern era, Congress is rarely, if ever, in that State and Congress has not been in that State for the last several years.
No charge for this lesson Madam Speaker. And just because Trump says dumb things does not excuse you or anybody else for saying dumb things.
