President Obama’s appointments to the NLRB
and one to the Consumer
Financial Protection Bureau were once again said to be unconstitutional by
the Fourth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
In January 2012, Congress was in pro forma sessions, which
Obama is asserting does not really count as Congress being in session because “no
real business was conducted.” Therefore, he made what are called recess
appointments to fill vacancies in agency positions. This issue will likely go
before the Supreme Court soon.
But let’s look back at the modern history of the pro forma
session.
In 2008, Democratic Sen.
Sherrod Brown rapped the gavel, calling the Senate into session with an
empty chamber, stopping President Bush from making any appointments over the
weekend.
Democrats and Republicans have used this tactic to stop
recess appointments for decades. For this President to ignore the Constitution
because it does not fit his agenda or timing is dangerous. But hey, we seem to
get that a lot with Obama so I guess we should be used to it by now.
If leaders in Washington do not like how pro froma sessions
are conducted and used, it is up to them to change the process. We no longer
live in a time when a Congressional recess lasted months so members could
travel home and back. Members can be back in DC within hours. Heck, most
members probably go home on weekends to be with their families and
constituents, even if they live on the West Coast, because it takes mere hours
to return to the beltway.
This type of appointment should no longer be necessary
except during a recess lasting longer than 30 days. However, politics
apparently gets in the way and the formality of spending 15 seconds in the
chair on the Senate floor to call the body to session will live on.
By SB
© 2013 BiGWand. All rights reserved.
No comments:
Post a Comment