Chaos at the NLRB

Strike two.

Yes, a second court has now ruled that President Obama’s “recess” appointments to the National Labor Relations Board were unconstitutional.  The 2-1 decision from the Third Circuit Court of Appeals that came down on Thursday confirmed what the D.C. Circuit Court had already found – that the Obama Administration failed to secure the constitutionally-mandated “consent’ from the Senate before filling vacant NLRB seats. POLITICO reports:

“The 3rd Circuit case centered on decisions the NLRB made on the authority of three members including Craig Becker, who was appointed by the president on March 27, 2010, while the Senate was adjourned for two weeks.

The case was brought by a New Jersey nursing and rehabilitation center whose nurses were allowed to form a union by one such NLRB decision. The facility, New Vista, contended that the board’s decision was invalid because it did not have enough members active when the decision was issued because the naming of Becker to the board was not a valid recess appointment.

The NLRB must have three members participate in a decision for it to be valid, and the court found that because Becker was not appointed during a break between sessions of Congress, he was not a valid member of the board and thus invalidated the NLRB’s orders.”

In his haste to fill the NLRB with union-friendly allies, the President has subverted the constitution, thumbed his nose at the legislative branch, and thrown the national business climate into chaos by binding it with illegitimate decisions.

We hope it was worth it.