Why Trump can’t call Congress back into session to restore DHS funding

So Congress has now entered the second week of its 16-17 day Easter and Passover break. The shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security is almost two months away. There is no obvious way to end the conflict.

That’s why some GOP lawmakers — and conservative activists — want President Donald Trump to call on Congress to get back on track and fund DHS.

Let’s dig deeper into that.

The president has the power to call Congress to act under “extraordinary” circumstances. But that doesn’t compel legal work – let alone create a legal solution. However, it is unclear whether Trump would have the power to force the House and Senate back into session under the current parliamentary conditions.

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Article II, Section 3 of the Constitution states the following: “He may, on Extraordinary Occasions, summon both Houses, or either of them, and in Case of Disagreement between them, as to the Time of Adjournment, may adjourn to such Time as he shall think.”

US presidents have called special sessions of Congress 45 times. Twenty-seven incidents involved recall of both chambers. President George Washington was the first to order a special session of Congress in 1791. Washington wrote to Vice President John Adams – the president of the Senate – to call the Senate to consider various proposals and to fill the vacancies in Vermont, which would become the 14th state. Vermont was the first state following the original 13 colonies to gain statehood.

President Abraham Lincoln ordered a special session of both houses of Congress after the attack on Fort Sumter in 1861.

In late July, 1948, President Harry Truman became the latest executive to use his power to reconvene Congress. Congress postponed for a year earlier that month. That does not happen with the contemporary Congress. So Truman called the lawmakers back to Washington on what is known as “Turnip Day” in Missouri, July 26. That is the day when farmers must plant turnips for the fall harvest. Therefore, historians gave that Congressional session the “Turnip Day Session.” Truman wanted action on education, energy and housing policy.

Senate Majority Leader Robert Taft (R-OH) announced that the Senate would “give nothing to that person” during the sessions.

Congress didn’t do much, passing two bills that the president felt fell short of his goals. That helped perpetuate Truman’s “Do Nothing Congress” moniker, which was a hallmark of his failed presidential campaign.

AFTER CONGRESS’S ELEVENTH HOUR RUSH TO SUPPORT DHS

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Also, the point is that the president can recall Congress to Washington. But that authority does not necessarily mean the result of the law.

But what we should examine are the conditions that constitute “Extraordinary Events” as stated in the Constitution.

Well, that’s not clear. However, it is important to note that in the 18th, 19th and even half of the 20th century, Congress met in Washington at different times. In fact, in those days, lawmakers often traveled to Washington for months at a time. That’s why the founders included a provision that gives the President the power to recall Congress in times of crisis.

However, as is often the case in politics, the problem is in the eye of the beholder and is far from being defined by the constitution.

So that brings us to the present day. The failure to fund the Department of Homeland Security for almost two months is a particular problem. The decision to dissolve the Congress always rests with the president. But there may be Constitutional limits on when the president can reconvene Congress. And despite the drama now involving funding for the Department of Homeland Security, Trump may be distracted from any effort to pressure lawmakers to get back to work in Washington.

Article I, Section 5 of the Constitution states, “Each House may determine its own Rules of Procedure.” Since the House and Senate have not decided to adjourn until the end of the allotted time, Congress can make the case that it is not even out of session to begin with, meeting for a few seconds every three days in short sessions. Therefore, the Parliamentary standing of Congress makes the option of ordering “both Houses, or either of them” to convene under Article II Section 3 unavailable to the President.

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The US Capitol in Washington, DC, US, Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2026. (Al Drago/Bloomberg)

One could argue that Congress is not in session right now, meeting every few seconds with a skeleton crew.

It doesn’t matter. As mentioned above, the Constitution gives Congress the final authority to make its own laws. President Barack Obama challenged whether or not Congress was in session when he tried to bypass the Senate confirmation process and appoint officials to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) during the Senate’s interim period. The Obama administration argued that Congress was out of session. Therefore, the “recess appointment” option was available to the President, without requiring Senate confirmation.

However in NLRB v. Canning in 2014, the Supreme Court ruled 9-0 in favor of Congress. It upheld Congress’ right to make laws under Article I, Section 5. In other words, when Congress says it’s in session, it’s in session. And once it’s out, it’s out. It is not up to the President to make that determination.

Writing for the Court, former Justice Stephen Breyer found that “pro forma sessions count as sessions, not as recesses … the Senate is in session when it says it is, so long as, under its own rules, it retains the power to conduct Senate business.”

The current parliamentary situation in the House and Senate mimics the conditions that started it NLRB v. Canning. So, as much as some want President Trump to call Congress, he can’t.

In addition, read Breyer’s point that the House and Senate “have the power to conduct Senate business.” We saw that last week when the Senate was supposed to be in pro forma session, doing nothing. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) passed the Senate’s DHS funding plan a second time, during what was scheduled to be a pro forma meeting.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, RS.D., speaks to reporters as he heads into the Senate chamber at the US Capitol on March 12, 2026, in Washington, DC. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Don’t forget that some House conservatives wanted the Senate to use its pro forma last Monday to pass the House-approved DHS bill.

So there were plenty of lawmakers, academics and members of the public complaining about Congress going out of town and not fully addressing the DHS funding controversy. So, they turned to the president, hoping he would step in for the first time since Harry Truman and order lawmakers back to Washington.

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There is no Turnip Day Session in this Congress this year. And if President Trump tries a “Turnip Day Session,” it’s unlikely that any lawmakers will bother to be “accountable” under the Constitution.