Obama’s ‘Recess Appointment’ Strategy Thwarted

Obama’s ‘Recess Appointment’ Strategy Thwarted


“As long as the pro forma condition exists, congress is not in legal recess and, therefore, recess appointments by the President are not allowed.”


By Dell Hill

Back on August 2, Politico published this piece of whining rhetoric over the plight of one President Barack Obama being unable to ram through recess appointments to insure the placement of agency heads who would NOT otherwise be confirmed by the Senate.

This is how it’s done, boys and girls.

Senate blocking recess appointments

               
“Following the House, the Senate will hold a series of “pro forma” sessions over the next month, effectively blocking President Barack Obama from making any appointments during Congress’ August recess.

That means Obama won’t be able to seat his pick to lead the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, former Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray, whose nomination Republicans have vowed to oppose until Obama makes changes watering down the agency’s authority.

After passing the debt limit legislation on Monday, House leaders announced they would hold pro forma sessions through August, a procedural move that forced the Senate to follow suit. The Constitution requires that for either chamber to take more than a three-day break, the other chamber must give its approval.

One of the Senate’s last actions before leaving town for the August break: Confirming more than 25 executive and judicial nominees by unanimous consent.  They included two superior court judges and a number of ambassadors.”

So as congress edges closer to the Christmas/New Years ‘break’, they will have two options open - outright adjournment or recess.  If the intent of Majority Leader Harry Reid is to order a ‘recess’, Speaker of the House, John Boehner, will then call for pro forma sessions for the duration.

Each Tuesday and Friday, a Republican Senator will advance to the podium, bang the gavel to call for order, see that no one else is in attendance, and bag the gavel again to put the pro forma session back into recess.

As long as the pro forma condition exists, congress is not in legal recess and, therefore, recess appointments by the President are not allowed.

Under normal conditions, this wouldn’t (and shouldn’t) have to be done, but this president tipped his political strategy long ago by appointing agency heads who had NO chance of confirmation by the Senate, so the Senate was forced to take the pro forma route.

And take particular note of the entire last paragraph of that Politico post:

“One of the Senate’s last actions before leaving town for the August break: Confirming more than 25 executive and judicial nominees by unanimous consent.  They included two superior court judges and a number of ambassadors.”

In their very own words, Politico reports the exact opposite of their headline.  The Senate did not - and had no intention of - blocking every candidate submitted by the President.  Only those they were opposed to.  And isn’t that exactly what a Senate is supposed to do?

PS:  Cordray’s nomination was ultimately filibustered by Republicans in the Senate and his nomination was not confirmed.