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Dr. Boozman's Check-up

Last year, President Obama made a series of unprecedented recess appointments during a time when the Senate was in regular proceedings. This extraordinary power-grab required the president to alter the definition of recess. Not only did it violate hundreds of years of Senate precedent, but it violated the law. Despite this fact, President Obama went ahead and did it anyway.  

Today, the court ruled that President Obama had indeed overstepped his authority and invalidated three appointments to the National Labor Relations Board that had been made without Senate confirmation. My colleagues and I signed an Amicus Brief submitted in the case that challenged the President’s actions as unconstitutional as the Senate was in pro forma session at the time the appointments were made.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit today said the president could only use his recess appointment authority to fill vacancies that arise when the Senate is in official recess, which only occurs when the Senate is in between sessions.  Clearly then, a pro forma session would not be an official recess.  As Chief Judge David Sentelle wrote in the ruling, if that were the case, “the president could make appointments any time the Senate so much as broke for lunch.”

Our Founding Founders established a series of checks-and-balances to protect our democracy and ensure government accountability. We should not turn our backs on these values. Whether Republican or Democrat, we must watch out for executive actions that legislate outside the Constitution, particularly when they threaten jobs, businesses, or individual rights.