Both the House and the Senate are on recess until May 4 to practise physical distancing, but have been holding pro forma sessions twice a week. This has prevented Trump from making recess appointments to vacant leadership positions in government agencies. Loading "The current practice of leaving town while conducting phoney pro forma sessions is a dereliction of duty that the American people can't afford during this crisis," Trump said in his daily White House briefing. "It is a scam what they do." Trump cited the director of national intelligence, two members of the Federal Reserve Board and the undersecretary of agriculture as nominees he has put forward who are awaiting confirmation amid the pandemic.

Loading None of the positions he named are directly related to public health. "The Senate should either fulfil its duty and vote on my nominees or it should formally adjourn so I can make recess appointments," Trump said. "Perhaps it’s never been done before, nobody’s even sure if it has. "But we’re going to do it. We need these people here. We need people for this crisis, and we don’t want to play any more political games."

He added: "We'll probably be challenged in court, and we'll see who wins." Jonathan Turley, a constitutional law professor at George Washington University, tweeted: "The President just said that he may unilaterally adjourn Congress. This seems to be a reference to Article II, Section 3, which gives a president in 'extraordinary occasions' to convene or adjourn the Houses. This power has never been used and should not be used now." Loading Replay Replay video Play video Play video He added: "A pandemic should not be an invitation for pandemonium. Indeed, we need regular order now more than ever." Turley was chosen by Republicans last year to testify against Trump's impeachment on the grounds that his behaviour regarding Ukraine did not rise to the level of "high crimes and misdemeanours".

'A pandemic should not be an invitation for pandemonium. Indeed, we need regular order now more than ever.' Jonathan Turley, George Washington University Joe Lockhart, Bill Clinton's former press secretary, said: "Let this one sink in. The President just threatened to shut down Congress. They do that in Russia. They do that in China. They do that in banana republics. Welcome to our new world." Trump was impeached in the House for obstruction of justice and abuse of power, but the Republican-led Senate voted against punishing him. Trump said he would use tomorrow's briefing to announce guidelines for states to ease their physical distancing restrictions and re-open businesses and schools.