House committee to probe recess appointments

The House Judiciary Committee will probe President Obama's recent decision to skirt the Senate with a handful of recess appointments.

Judiciary Committee Chairman Lamar Smith (R-Texas) announced Monday that his committee will hold a hearing on Feb. 15 to explore the constitutionality of the president's move, which he said sets a "dangerous precedent" for future administrations.

Republicans were incensed when the president decided earlier this month to circumvent Senate confirmation and recess appoint three nominations that had been subject to GOP opposition. A particular point of ire was the fact that the president ignored the brief pro forma Senate sessions pushed by the GOP to block such appointments.

"The President cannot unilaterally decide to rush through ‘recess appointments’ while the Senate is not in recess," Smith said. "Doing so threatens the oversight powers of the Senate and the separation of powers that is fundamental to our Constitution."

Obama recess appointed Richard Cordray as the first director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, as well as three members of the National Labor Relations Board. A filibuster in the Senate had blocked Cordray, and the NLRB nominees were expected to face fierce GOP opposition as well.

A few days after the appointments, the Justice Department made public a memo defending the move. The Office of Legal Counsel contended that the pro forma sessions were not legitimate periods of work for the Senate, and could be ignored for the purpose of recess appointments.

The president's move is already being challenged in court, as the National Right to Work Foundation has filed a motion challenging the legality of the move. Other business groups have suggested more court challenges questioning the legitimacy of the move could be forthcoming.

The White House defended the moves, calling them a necessary step to allow those agencies to be fully up and running. Under the Dodd-Frank financial reform law that created the CFPB, the agency cannot fully realize its powers without a director, and NLRB membership had fallen below the quorum needed for it to function.

---