Obama Uses Executive Authority to Make Recess Appointment — While Senate Is Still in Session (Update: 3 more to NLRB) Update: GOP joins suit

In a defiant display of executive power, President Barack Obama on Wednesday will “stick his thumb in the eye” of GOP opposition and name Richard Cordray as the nation’s chief consumer watchdog. Outraged Republican leaders in Congress suggested that courts would determine the appointment was illegal.

But why are Republican leaders outraged at this recess appointment? Well, mostly because the Senate is still in session.

Although President Obama has constitutional power to make appointments during a congressional recess, Republicans have moved to keep that from happening by having the Senate running in “pro forma” sessions, meaning open for business in name with no actual business planned.
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By his move, Obama essentially is declaring the Senate’s short off-and-on legislative sessions a sham intended to block his appointments.

Furthermore, it was the president’s own party that set this precedent. Democrats started the practice when George W. Bush was president to halt him from making recess appointments.

Obama’s extraconstitutional NLRB appointments
By Rick Manning - 01/05/12 03:08 PM ET

Washington, D.C., political insiders, wonks and talk radio are all atwitter about the decision by President Obama to blow up the Senate advise-and-consent process by making appointments of three individuals to the National Labor Relations Board and one to run the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

The three NLRB appointees will allow the board to continue on with a quorum making broad sweeping regulatory rulings that threaten to transform employment law by executive fiat during this last year of the Obama administration.

The illegitimacy of the NLRB quorum will guarantee that every decision they make will end up in federal court on appeal, which is where these decisions should be made in the first place.

This glimmer of good news out of the Obama-created constitutional crisis reinforces the need for Congress to codify it into law by passing legislation by Rep. Austin Scott (R-Ga.) that would take away the NLRB’s adjudicatory authority no matter who sits on the board.

I believe it is the house that is preventing the senate from adjourning for more than 3 days. The senate,under Reid could just adjourn till ½3/12. The house will not agree to adjourn, which forces the senate to meet at least every 3 working days per the constitution. Harry Reid did exactly this once his party took control after 2006 to prevent Bush from doing recess appts. Both houses must agree to an adjournment resolution. Obama's recess is over-period.

This sounds like a good thing. And the republicans trying to stop an agency like this from doing its job by keeping its director from being appointed sounds like yet another example of the republican party caring more about big businesses than about the american people who frequently get stomped on by said businesses.

And another attempt by Republicans to block implementation of laws which they don't have majority authority to overturn.

This sounds like a good thing. And the republicans trying to stop an agency like this from doing its job by keeping its director from being appointed sounds like yet another example of the republican party caring more about big businesses than about the american people who frequently get stomped on by said businesses.

The GOP aide added that aside from an almost immediate challenge, even if Cordray moves into the post, he will face a wall of opposition at every turn.

Cordray "will get absolutely nothing done. Also, funding (for the CFPB) will be in some peril," the aide said.
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Republicans made clear both during Cordray's nomination and on Wednesday that they have no problem with Cordray personally, but want changes in the massive new watchdog agency, including a budget and nominee subject to congressional oversight and other reforms in its wide-ranging rule-making authority.
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"There are legitimate policy concerns about the structure of the CFPB. They can be reconciled, but the president refuses to even have the conversation," he said.

This sounds like a good thing. And the republicans trying to stop an agency like this from doing its job by keeping its director from being appointed sounds like yet another example of the republican party caring more about big businesses than about the american people who frequently get stomped on by said businesses.

• 2009 - legislature designs bureau
• 2010 - legislature creates bureau
• jan 2011 - bureau is funded, staffed and provisioned but powerless to do anything until director appointed
• 2011- republicans have legitimate concerns about the structure of the agency and the way it will be run.
• jan 2012 - potus refuses to talk to them about it and says "suck it crybabies. I'm gonna flaunt the rules and do it myself and then blame you (or bush) if it doesn't work out." and appoints a 1 year director.

As I expected, Obama announced a recess appointment for Richard Cordray to head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

The bold move — which represents a declaration of executive power Obama had been uncomfortable with before — comes after Republicans had stalled Obama’s pick with a procedural move built around “pro forma” sessions designed to make recess appointments impossible.

The GOP tactic essentially prevented a new government agency created by the White House and Congress from getting up and running on behalf of the American people. And Obama will argue today that the GOP’s obstructionism is harming consumers and middle class families, leaving him with no choice but to employ the recess appointment tactic.

“When Congress refuses to act and as a result hurts our economy and puts people at risk, I have an obligation as President to do what I can without them,” Obama will say.

More broadly, the politics of the move are very interesting. Obama’s decision to do this in such a high profile way may swing the spotlight back towards his ongoing push for the middle class, which the White House hopes to contrast with ongoing GOP primary infighting. The outcry from Republicans will draw more attention to their role as defenders of financial institutions against consumers. In keeping with the new “we can’t wait” for Congress strategy, Obama seems determined to demonstrate a willingness to take whatever steps are necessary to circumvent it and to exercise power unilaterally on behalf of the economy and the middle class.

ftfy.

Nonsense. If "they had legitimate concerns about the structure of the agency" there is a process by which they may address such things. It's called legislating. Instead, they were explicitly holding the appointment hostage by filibuster while making demands for changes to the law.

How do you think we should make changes to the law? By legislating, or by derailing simple governance until demands are met? And if they are allowed to hijack governance, what precedent does that set?

A government simply cannot function in this fashion. We do not negotiate with terrorists.