From
FoxNews.com - WASHINGTON – As a year marred with fights and stalemates within the federal government comes to a close, Republican lawmakers and
President Obama are embroiled in yet another battle of wills. Republican lawmakers are refusing to officially adjourn for the year in hopes of deterring Obama from making any unconfirmed appointments to controversial boards while Congress is on vacation. Senate Republicans and the president can’t agree on new National Labor Relations Board members, leaving only two chairs on the board filled going into the new year. This will cause the board to shut down, as a quorum cannot occur with two chairs filled. Obama will then be forced to make recess appointments in order to keep the board running. However, under the Constitution the president can simply appoint someone to fill any of these slots on his own if the Senate is not in session. In an effort to prevent these recess appointments, Republicans are having the Senate ‘gavel in gavel out’ every few days, meaning they are not officially adjourning for the year. If this prevents the Senate from taking a recess, lawmakers believe Obama will be stopped from making any recess appointments. However, this may all depend on how one defines a recess. Obama could argue that two or three days can be defined as a recess, although recent history dictates that is not the case. Political expert Stephen Hess of Brookings says the president would have to stretch to justify qualifying two or three days as a recess. "He's got the option," Hess said, "but he's got to go back a long way in history to find an example that's going to suit his convenience if he wants to go ahead with a recess appointment." Democratic strategist Doug Schoen believes an effort by the president to challenge the recess would be too risky.
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Senate Republicans Seek to Block Unconfirmed Appointments to Labor Board
From FoxNews.com - WASHINGTON – As a year marred with fights and stalemates within the federal government comes to a close, Republican lawmakers and President Obama are embroiled in yet another battle of wills. Republican lawmakers are refusing to officially adjourn for the year in hopes of deterring Obama from making any unconfirmed appointments to controversial boards while Congress is on vacation. Senate Republicans and the president can’t agree on new National Labor Relations Board members, leaving only two chairs on the board filled going into the new year. This will cause the board to shut down, as a quorum cannot occur with two chairs filled. Obama will then be forced to make recess appointments in order to keep the board running. However, under the Constitution the president can simply appoint someone to fill any of these slots on his own if the Senate is not in session. In an effort to prevent these recess appointments, Republicans are having the Senate ‘gavel in gavel out’ every few days, meaning they are not officially adjourning for the year. If this prevents the Senate from taking a recess, lawmakers believe Obama will be stopped from making any recess appointments. However, this may all depend on how one defines a recess. Obama could argue that two or three days can be defined as a recess, although recent history dictates that is not the case. Political expert Stephen Hess of Brookings says the president would have to stretch to justify qualifying two or three days as a recess. "He's got the option," Hess said, "but he's got to go back a long way in history to find an example that's going to suit his convenience if he wants to go ahead with a recess appointment." Democratic strategist Doug Schoen believes an effort by the president to challenge the recess would be too risky. Read more
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