Posted on 01/06/2012 11:40:30 AM PST by Lucky9teen
Key Republican Senators are bracing for legislative battles and Constitutional challenges to President Barack Obama’s unprecedented end-run around Congress to install several controversial political appointees.
Obama announced the decision Wednesday to make the so-called recess appointments -- even though the Senate is not in recess -- putting Richard Cordray in charge of a contentious new consumer protection agency and also naming three appointments to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) – Sharon Block, Richard Griffin and Terence F. Flynn.
“Business as we know it in the Senate is over for this administration in terms of accomplishing anything legislatively or finding any cooperation from this side of the aisle,” said Sen. John Barrasso (R. –Wyo.). “He has poisoned the well.”
“Apparently, advise and consent called for in the Constitution doesn’t apply to this Chicago-style politician. He’s more interested in rewarding his friends than living under the law Americans need to abide by,” Barrasso said.
The Constitution allows the president to make recess appointments, but the controversy in this case is whether or not the Senate is in recess.
“I believe it’s an abuse of power. Now he is saying he’s above the law -- the law doesn’t apply to him,” Barrasso said.
Republicans have kept the Congress in a pro forma session, gaveling in for a few minutes of official business every three days. It’s a tactic that was used by Democrats during the Bush administration to block recess appointments. Additionally, Obama’s own Justice Department argued before the Supreme Court in 2010 that Congress is not in recess unless it’s absent for more than three days.
Republicans say they are frustrated because Obama did not nominate the NLRB picks until last month -- just two days before the Christmas holiday -- allowing no time for the Senate to hold hearings.
Meanwhile, Senate Democrats have stalled the confirmation of the lone Republican nominee for the labor board, Brian Hayes, since July 2009.
Another contentious factor in Obama’s maneuver, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau created by the Dodd-Frank Act, requires that the new director be confirmed by the Senate, so Cordray’s appointment puts the agency’s legal authority in limbo.
“I don’t think he has the full authority to run this agency,” said J.W. Verrett, an assistant professor of law at George Mason University and a senior scholar at the Mercatus Center.
“The president’s decision is a purely political one, and not about consumer protection,” Verrett said. “In fact, he’s sacrificed consumer protection. He’s more interested in being tough on Congress than being tough on predatory lenders.”
Sen. Mike Lee (R. –Utah), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said these actions were not ordinary recess appointments but “egregious and inexcusable” acts of a president who thinks he’s above the law.
“As a matter of raw political force, can he do it? He just did,” Lee said.
“I think the president wanted to pick a really big fight, and he has surely chosen one,” Lee said. “This is a direct affront to the American people and the constitutional system of government that we have.”
Republicans are hesitant to give away their game plan on how they will respond to Obama’s move, but Lee suggested that Congress could withhold the salaries for the new federal appointees.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R. Ky.) said Obama “upped the ante” and set “a terrible precedent that could allow any future president to completely cut the Senate out of the confirmation process, appointing his nominees immediately after sending their names up to Congress.”
“This was surely not what the framers had in mind when they required the president to seek the advice and consent of the Senate in making appointments,” McConnell said.
Sen. Orrin Hatch (R. –Utah) said Obama made the appointments to placate his “big labor allies,” but that it might not be enough to save him come Election Day.
“The president put his own political future and the radical views of his far-left base ahead of constitutional government. The president will have to answer to the American people for this power grab," Hatch said.
Vincent Vernuccio, a labor policy lawyer with the Competitive Enterprise Institute, said the NLRB appointees are a gift to Obama’s labor backers, and that Griffin comes to the board directly from a labor union.
“The vacancies on the Board have occurred because Obama has insisted on nominating pro-union ideologues too controversial to pass Senate confirmation,” Vernuccio said.
Richard Trumka, president of the AFL-CIO, congratulated Obama on overcoming what he called “Republican obstructionists.”
“Working families and consumers should not pay the price for political ploys that have repeatedly undercut the enforcement of rules against Wall Street abuses and the rights of working people,” Trumka said.
Plan? They have no plan.
In a logical and just world this would be true, but Romney is leading in the primaries. Need I say more?
"In Africa, you often see that the difference between a village where everybody eats and a village where people starve is government. One has a functioning government, and the other does not.
Which is why it bothers me when I hear people say that government is the enemy. They don't understand its fundamental role."~Barack Obama
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I can’t compare the 2. The idea we couldn’t get a better field this go around is mind boggling. The only person i want to vote for is anyone who doesn’t want the job.
“Just NOW you think he’s saying he’s above the law? Only now? Where have you been the last 3 years, Barrasso?????”
Ooooohh! An “almost” threat to dictator hussein. Does anyone seriously think this will prevent the king from more edicts? No one will stop him.
We don't need to hear his nasty lies at the SOTU. We already know our beloved union is in the state of communism.
Call up the militia immediately.
At the same time do an impeachment of Biden, also voting for a resolution that deems the Senate to have voted for Conviction.
Send Boehner over as President ~ having already taken the oath from Justice Roberts.
Boehner directs the militia to round up and arrest the Joint Chiefs of Staff pending disposition.
First directives: Color photo ID for voting in every election, Planned Parenthood must leave the country, Illegal Aliens out within 30 days; ObamaKKKare rescinded; Democrat leadership down to the level of local wardhealers must report for processing to nearest Post Office; and a number of others.
I see no reason NOT to have a tax revolt in this country.
Well yeah, but the House of Representatives could hold impeachment hearings. That could certainly bring to light every dirty deed or even suspicion connected to zero for his entire life. What effect do you think that would have on his ability to get reelected?
You're right, of course. And remember how well the last impeachment worked out for us, too. There's only one way to get Obama out of there and stirring up sympathy for him among his base isn't it. Sad to say.
Bravo! Honduras can do it why not us?
Oh they have no guts, that is why!
Hey Barry, you're no Harry!
Oh! And by the way, Hawaii i will you please cough up those records - NOW!
Our pResident is beginning to sound a lot like Ceasar.
“Republicans are hesitant to give away their game plan on how they will respond to Obama’s move, but Lee suggested that Congress could withhold the salaries for the new federal appointees. “
At the very least they should refuse to fund the position. What they really should do is defund the whole NLRB. Then impeach and remove Barry from office.
Hey, Congress. Add this fact to your “my good friend” discussions:
OBAMA”CARE” IS A MONOPOLY, AND THEREFORE VIOLATES THE ANTI-TRUST LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
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