Senate GOP introduces bill to cut salaries of NLRB members

Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) on Wednesday said he and freshman Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) are putting forward legislation that would cut the salaries of the two National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) members who were recess-appointed last year.

Blunt said this step needs to be taken in the wake of last week's Appeals Court ruling that said Sharon Block and Richard Griffin were not appointed to their posts consistent with the Constitution. Obama recess appointed the two officials, but at a time when the Senate was not in a recess.

"The right of the Senate to provide advice and consent is an important check on the risk of this type of presidential overreach," Blunt said on the Senate floor. "Allowing the president to determine the Senate's schedule would seriously damage the balance of power, it would seriously damage the Senate's autonomy, it eliminates an important check on the Executive Branch.

"The president needs to reappoint, and until the president does reappoint, Congress has a responsibility to block this unconstitutional act by terminating the salaries of those who were illegally appointed, and by preventing them from conducting any official business until the Senate acts to approve their appointments."

Blunt is one of several Republican senators to call out the Obama administration for its faulty appointments over the last few days. Others have said all NLRB decisions made with Block and Griffin on the board should be invalidated.

The administration has indicated that it will appeal the decision, and the NLRB has said the decision in question was narrow, which means it can continue operating without any change for now.

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