Michael Barone:
So Obama’s scorn for the truth in this regard is only a minor matter. His scorn for the Constitution is something else..
That scorn has been expressed most recently in his “recess” appointments of members of the National Labor Relations Board and the chairmanship of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The quotation marks are appropriate because when he made the appointments the Senate was not in recess as the Constitution requires.
Article II, Section 2 of the Constitution says that presidential appointments must be confirmed by the Senate unless Congress provides otherwise. But anticipating that the government may need officials when the Senate is unavailable, the section further provides that “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 the next session.”
What constitutes a recess? Article I, Section 5 reads, “Neither house, during the session of Congress, shall, without the consent of the other, adjourn for more than three days.”
The House did not consent to the adjournment of the Senate this year, so there is no recess, and hence no constitutional authority to make recess appointments
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The Framers thought it more important to limit power than for government to act quickly. Barack Obama disagrees.
Republican presidential candidates have been praising the Founding Fathers. Obama has been defying them. Interesting contrast.
To read the rest click on the title for a link.
