That’s right. The man who has taken the oath twice to ‘preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States’ has been ruled to have violated it. Not because a president doesn’t have the power to make recess appointments, because he does. But the Senate first must be in recess. Which in this case last year, it wasn’t. The Senate was in pro-forma sessions, which means that it was not in recess. Democrats used the same pro-forma sessions in 2007 to prevent Bush (the guy who respects the Constitution) from making recess appointments.
Kudos to the Landmark Legal Foundation that spearheaded the case.
A three judge panel for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit today adopted arguments advanced by Landmark Legal Foundation to overturn appointments made by President Obama to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). Landmark argued in its amicus curiae (friend of the court) brief that the President’s use of the Constitution’s “recess appointments” clause violated the restrictions placed by the Constitution on that power.
Landmark Legal Foundation President Mark R. Levin said “This President doesn’t get to tear up and toss aside the Constitution just because he disagrees with the limitations it imposes on him.”
The contentious recess appointments were made to the National Labor Relations Board which at the time had three vacancies out of 5. The President appointed three pro labor union appointees, making the NLRB a Democrat and pro labor union majority.
If the ruling stands, it means that hundreds of decisions issued by the board over more than a year would be invalid. It also would leave the five-member labor board with just one validly appointed member, effectively shutting it down. The board is allowed to issue decisions only when it has at least three sitting members.