Thread: White House confident recess appointments were constitutional

White House confident recess appointments were constitutional
By Amie Parnes - 01/05/12 12:44 PM ET

President Obama is confident he had the authority to recess-appoint Richard Cordray to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), White House press secretary Jay Carney said Thursday.

Republican leaders blasted Cordray’s appointment as an “unprecedented” and potentially illegal power grab by the president, but Carney said the White House is “very confident” that the law is on their side.

At the same time, Carney added, "I don't want to anticipate legal challenges we haven't seen yet."

Business groups say legal challenges to the recess appointment could come swiftly, and an official with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce told The Hill a court fight over the appointment is a near certainty.

Obama broke with years of legal precedent by making the recess appointment while the Senate was holding brief pro forma sessions. Senate Democrats used the same tactic to block recess appointments from President George W. Bush.

The president also recess-appointed three members of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), a move that gives the agency a working quorum for 2012.

Carney fired back on an attack made Thursday by Republican front-runner Mitt Romney, who accused Obama of packing the NLRB with "union stooges."

"There were three nominees — one of them was a Republican," the spokesman said. "I find it a little rich that on this and on the appointment of Richard Cordray ... that the former governor of Massachusetts decided to take a position in both cases against the security and protection of middle-class Americans."

Carney insisted Obama was not trying to be "deliberately provocative" with the recess appointments.

"He has worked cooperatively with Congress" since he took office, Carney said.

Obama felt an “absolute urgency” to install Cordray at the bureau, Carney said, adding that no one expects Washington to be a campfire where everyone sings “Kumbaya.”

Senate Republicans had warned Obama not to recess-appoint Cordray to the CFPB and had vowed to block his nomination until structural changes were made to the agency to make it more accountable.

Carney said Cordray’s nomination and the drive to change the bureau are separate issues.

If Republicans want to change the law on the CFPB, "they can do it legislatively," he said.

This story was updated at 1:05 p.m.




http://thehill.com/homenews/administ...ves-were-legal



Saying it doesn't make it so

Related

http://www.alipac.us/threads/247401-...ative-Director

The White House Is Wrong — The Senate Conducted Business During Its ‘Recess’

In the uproar over President Obama’s unconstitutional “recess” appointments (Richard Cordray to head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and three new members of the National Labor Relations Board), one fact has gotten too little attention.

Attempting to justify the president’s violation of the Constitution and 90 years of legal precedent, presidential spokesman Dan Pfeiffer claimed that the president can exercise recess appointment powers because the Senate’s pro forma sessions—conducted since mid-December—are merely “a gimmick” during which “no Senate business is conducted and instead one of two Senators simply gavel in and out of session in a matter of seconds.”

However, a simple review of the Congressional Record (“CR”) shows that claim to be categorically false.
Most senators left D.C. on Dec. 17 after scheduling pro forma sessions for December and January. The CR for Dec. 17 shows that Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) received unanimous consent to schedule Dec. 23 as a pro forma session.

The CR for Dec. 23 shows that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid specifically asked for unanimous consent for H.R. 3765 so “that if the House passes and sends to the Senate a bill which is identical to the text extension of the reduced payroll tax, unemployment insurance, TANF, and the Medicare payment fix, the bill be considered read three times and passed.”
In that pro forma session, Reid received unanimous consent and the two-month extension of the payroll tax break that had caused such a political commotion in Washington was considered read and passed in the Senate after the House acted. That’s not a “gimmick.” That’s legislating.

That same CR for the Dec. 23 pro forma session records a series of other business actions taken by the Senate. The president pro tempore signed several enrolled bills. Other senators were designated as members of a conference committee to negotiate with the House over disagreements to H.R. 3630. The minority leader even made appointments to the United States-China Economic and Security Review Commission, pursuant to 22 U.S.C. § 7002.

Contrary to White House assertions, the Senate unquestionably conducted actual business during at least one of its supposedly pro forma sessions. This simple fact makes President Obama’s actions even more indefensible.
The president’s ends don’t justify his means. Politics should not trump the principle that we – and particularly the president – operate under the rule of law and the bounds of the Constitution. When a president disregards the facts and shows such contempt for this principle, it is more than disappointing, it threatens the foundations of our republic. Leaders who believe they need not abide by the rules and the law have led more than one republic down the road to tyranny.
http://pjmedia.com/tatler/2012/01/05...inglepage=true

The White House is wrong but do you think they will get away with it? I do...

Probably. We have a "do nothing Congress".

Originally Posted by Newmexican

Probably. We have a "do nothing Congress".

You mean the ones that are bought and paid for??? 535 job openings in 2012...and a couple in the big house...wouldn't it be nice if they could all reside in the BIG House so to speak!!!!

video at link below


Obama on Flouting Article 2, Section 2 of Constitution: ‘I Refuse to Take No for an Answer’
By Fred Lucas
January 4, 2012
Subscribe to Fred Lucas's posts



Obama



President Barack Obama shakes hands with Richard Cordray at Shaker Heights High School,Wednesday, Jan. 4, 2012, in Shaker Heights, Ohio. In a defiant display of executive power, President Barack Obama on Wednesday will buck GOP opposition and name Cordray as the nation's chief consumer watchdog. Outraged Republican leaders in Congress suggested that courts would determine the appointment was illegal. (AP Photo/Tony Dejak)

(CNSNews.com) – President Barack Obama, hitting a key swing state on Wednesday, defended his decision to go ahead and appoint Richard Cordray as head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) without securing the Senate confirmation that is required by the U.S. Constitution.

Article 2, Section 2 of the Constitution says that the president "shall nominate, and by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, shall appoint Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, Judges of the supreme Court, and all other Officers of the United States, whose Appointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and which shall be established by Law: but the Congress may by Law vest the Appointment of such inferior Officers, as they think proper, in the President alone, in the Courts of Law, or in the Heads of Departments. The President shall have Power to fill up all Vacancies that may happen during the Recess of the Senate, by granting Commissions which shall expire at the End of their next Session."

The Senate is not currently in recess, and the Congress did not give Obama the power to name the head of CFPB without Senate approval. Nonetheless, Obama has appointed Cordray without the constitutionally mandated Senate approval.

Last year, Obama nominated former Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray to run the CFPB, which was established by the controversial Dodd-Frank financial reform law in 2010. The Senate did not confirm Cordray.

Obama spoke on Wednesday in Cordray’s home state at the Shaker Heights High School in Shaker Heights, Ohio.

“Without a director in place, the consumer watchdog agency we’ve set up is left without the tools it needs to prevent dishonest mortgage brokers, payday lenders, and debt collectors from taking advantage of consumers,” Obama said. “That’s inexcusable. It’s wrong. And I refuse to take no for an answer.”

Obama said Cordray has the support of Republican and Democratic state attorneys general from across the country, and of a majority of the Senate.

“The only reason Republicans in the Senate have blocked Richard is because they don’t agree with the law setting up the consumer watchdog,” Obama said. “They want to weaken it. Well, that makes no sense at all. Does anyone think the reason we got in such a financial mess was because of too much oversight? Of course not.”

“We shouldn’t be weakening oversight and accountability,” said Obama. “We should be strengthening it--especially when it comes to looking out for families like yours. Financial firms have armies of lobbyists in Washington looking out for their interests. It’s time someone fought for you, too.”

Before his nomination, Cordray served as attorney general of Ohio from January 2009 to January 2011. He served two years as Ohio’s state treasurer and four years as the treasurer of Franklin County, Ohio.

cordray



Richard Cordray. (AP Photo)

Obama, as a senator, opposed President George W. Bush’s recess appointment of United Nations Ambassador John Bolton. “To some degree, he's damaged goods … somebody who couldn't get through a nomination in the Senate. And I think that that means that we will have less credibility,” Obama said of Bolton, according to The State Journal-Register of Springfield, Ill. on Aug. 2, 2005.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ohio) called the appointment of Cordray unprecedented.

“Although the Senate is not in recess, President Obama, in an unprecedented move, has arrogantly circumvented the American people by 'recess' appointing Richard Cordray as director of the new CFPB,” McConnell said in a written statement. “This recess appointment represents a sharp departure from a long-standing precedent that has limited the President to recess appointments only when the Senate is in a recess of 10 days or longer. Breaking from this precedent lands this appointee in uncertain legal territory, threatens the confirmation process and fundamentally endangers the Congress’ role in providing a check on the excesses of the executive branch.”

Last year, 44 Senate Republicans said they would not confirm any nominee as director, regardless of party, until structural changes were made to the bureau’s accountability. “But once again, the President has chosen to circumvent the confirmation process,” McConnell said.

“The CFPB is poised to be one of the least accountable and most powerful agencies in Washington,” McConnell said. “Created by the deeply flawed Dodd-Frank law, it is subject to none of the checks that independent agencies normally operate under, and will have an unprecedented reach and control over individual consumer decisions.”

Cordray should be willing to testify before Congress for a Jan. 24 hearing, said Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.), the chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform subcommittee on TARP, Financial Services and Bailouts of Public and Private Services.

“The President should stop allowing his Chicago political campaign to make his Washington policy decisions,” McHenry said in a written statement. “The unprecedented appointment of Mr. Cordray runs counter to the constitutional requirements for a recess appointment and Obama’s own campaign pledge to run ‘the most transparent administration in history.’ There are legitimate policy concerns about the structure of the CFPB. They can be reconciled, but the president refuses to even have the conversation.”



http://cnsnews.com/news/article/obam...take-no-answer

The Heck with the Senate: Obama Skips 'Advise and Consent' in Naming 3 Members to NLRB
By Susan Jones
January 5, 2012
Subscribe to Susan Jones's posts

Obama

President Barack Obama shakes hands with Richard Cordray before speaking about the economy, Wednesday, Jan. 4, 2012, at Shaker Heights High School in Shaker Heights, Ohio. In a defiant display of executive power, President Barack Obama on Wednesday will buck GOP opposition and name Cordray as the nation's chief consumer watchdog. Outraged Republican leaders in Congress suggested that courts would determine the appointment was illegal. (AP Photo/Haraz N. Ghanbari)

(CNSNews.com) - As part of his "We Can't Wait" campaign -- intended to make Congress look weak and ineffective -- President Barack Obama is making a power grab of questionable legality, critics say.

Not only did the president recess-appoint a consumer protection "czar" on Wednesday, he also recess-appointed three new members of his controversial National Labor Relations Board.

But, as Republican leaders argue, the Congress is not in recess. And in making the three NLRB appointments, Obama has ignored the written pleas of Republicans for "political and philosophical balance” on the labor board.

The three new members of Obama's pro-union NLRB are Sharon Block, a deputy assistant in the U.S. Labor Department who once worked with the late Sen. Ted Kennedy; Terence F. Flynn, chief counsel to NLRB Board Member Brian Hayes, a Republican; and Richard Griffin, the general counsel for the International Union of Operating Engineers. Griffin also serves on the board of directors for the AFL-CIO Lawyers Coordinating Committee, a position he has held since 1994.

“The American people deserve to have qualified public servants fighting for them every day -- whether it is to enforce new consumer protections or uphold the rights of working Americans," Obama said in a statement announcing his four "recess" appointments on Wednesday. "We can’t wait to act to strengthen the economy and restore security for our middle class and those trying to get in it, and that’s why I am proud to appoint these fine individuals to get to work for the American people.”

Republicans criticized the president's move on several levels:

"Today, the White House doubled down on its assault on the Constitution’s separation of powers -– circumventing the people’s representatives in Congress -- by not only appointing a new regulatory czar, but also new bureaucrats to the National Labor Relations Board to placate its big labor allies," said Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah)."

The President put his own political future and the radical views of his far-left base ahead of constitutional government."

Hatch said Obama "will have to answer to the American people for this power grab."

Last month, Hatch and 46 other Senate Republicans sent a letter to Obama, urging him not to recess-appoint nominees to the NLRB:

"Appointments to the NLRB have traditionally been made through prior agreement of both parties to ensure that any group of nominees placed on the board represents an appropriate political and philosophical balance," the Republican senators wrote. "Indeed, the very statutory design of the board is meant to ensure a basic level of bipartisanship in the appointment of members."

Republicans cited Obama's "controversial” recess of appointment of NLRB Board Member Craig Becker as an example of a nominee who was recess-appointed over the objections of the Senate. "The result of that decision has been unending controversy throughout member Becker's entire term on the board, which has undermined the credibility of the entire NLRB."

The Republicans urged Obama not to recess appoint any NLRB members - "especially during the mandatory adjournment between sessions of the 112th Congress, which will undoubtedly be very brief."

Doing so would "at the very least set a dangerous precedent that most certainly would be exploited in future cases to further marginalize the Senate's role in confirming nominees and could needlessly provoke a constitutional conflict between the Senate and the White House."

Criticism of Obama's recess-appointments also came from House Republicans:

“President Obama’s stunning move to install not one but three new members to the National Labor Relations Board without a hearing or a vote in the United States Senate is an unprecedented abuse of power and an affront to the will of the American people," said Rep. John Kline (R-Minn.), chairman of the U.S. House Education and the Workforce Committee.

“For months, workers and employers have expressed outrage over the board’s job-destroying actions, and in response, the House of Representatives took definitive action to rein in the NLRB’s activist agenda through two pieces of bipartisan legislation. Now, the president has taken matters into his own hands, unilaterally selecting new board members without allowing the Senate or the public any opportunity to consider their qualifications for this important position."

Kline said every decision made by the board will be "tainted by the president's actions."

Rep. Phil Roe (R-Tenn.), who chairs the subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions, also criticized Obama for ignoring the Senate's right to advise and consent on presidential appointments.

"These backdoor appointments are the exact opposite of the transparency that this administration promised,” Roe said. “The NLRB under President Obama has been a significant roadblock to job creation. I’m confident that these appointments signal more chaos for the American workforce.”

Republicans and pro-business groups were outraged last April, when the NLRB, prodded by a labor union, filed a complaint against the Boeing Company for its plan to transfer a second production line from Washington State to a non-union facility in South Carolina. Republicans called it an "attack" on right-to-work states.


http://cnsnews.com/news/article/heck...3-members-nlrb