Marathon Pundit: Unanimous: Appeals court rules Obama's NLRB "recess" appointments are unconstitutional

Friday, January 25, 2013

Unanimous: Appeals court rules Obama's NLRB "recess" appointments are unconstitutional

A year ago, while the US Senate was in a pro forma session, our imperious president made three recess appointments to the radicalized National Labor Relations Board. But this morning the courts struck back

From AP:

President Barack Obama violated the Constitution when he bypassed the Senate to fill vacancies on a labor relations panel, a federal appeals court panel ruled Friday.

A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit said that Obama did not have the power to make three recess appointments last year to the National Labor Relations Board.

The unanimous decision is an embarrassing setback for the president, who made the appointments after Senate Republicans spent months blocking his choices for an agency they contended was biased in favor of unions.

The ruling also throws into question Obama's recess appointment of Richard Cordray to head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Cordray's appointment, also made under the recess circumstance, has been challenged in a separate case.

While the White House is expected to appeal the ruling, if it stands, it will invalidate hundreds of decisions made in the last year by the NLRB.

This is a major defeat for Obama, while it's a victory for the rule of law.

The Workforce Fairness Institute issued a statement about the decision:

WFI Reacts To D.C. Circuit Court Ruling
Obama Labor Board Recess Appointments Unconstitutional

Washington, D.C. (January 25, 2013) – The Workforce Fairness Institute (WFI) today issued the following statement in response to the ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit:

"Today, the ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit concerning the recess appointments of Richard Griffin and Sharon Block to the National Labor Relations Board is a victory for workers and business owners across the country," said Fred Wszolek, spokesperson for the Workforce Fairness Institute (WFI). "During their tenure, Griffin and Block have worked to advance the interests of Big Labor bosses to the detriment of American employees and employers. It is now time for President Obama and his administration to stop playing politics with the NLRB, work with Congress and respect its role of advice and consent, and adhere to the U.S. Constitution."
The Workforce Fairness Institute is an organization committed to educating voters, employers, employees and citizens about issues affecting the workplace.

To learn more, please visit: http://www.workforcefairness.com.