Supreme Court Unanimously Curtails Obama Overreach in Recess Appointment Powers

WASHINGTON, June 26 – Today’s Supreme Court ruling in Noel Canning v. NLRB limits the president’s ability to make recess appointments without Senate approval. Hans Bader, CEI senior attorney and contributor to an amicus brief in the case, said the following about the court’s unanimous decision:

“President Obama’s radical interpretation of the Constitution’s recess appointments clause would have given presidents free rein to appoint political cronies at any point in time, gutting checks and balances on unqualified presidential appointments.

“Today’s ruling also confirms the invalidity of President Obama’s ‘recess’ appointment of Richard Cordray as head of the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau. He was appointed the same day, during the same non-existent recess, as the NLRB appointments invalidated by today’s ruling. This decision supports CEI’s legal challenge against Cordray’s appointment and the constitutionality of other aspects of the Dodd-Frank financial services legislation that remains pending as well.”

Read CEI’s legal challenge against Dodd-Frank, State National Bank of Big Spring v. Lew.

Read the amicus brief in Noel Canning v. NLRB authored by the 60 Plus Association, the State National Bank of Big Spring, and the Competitive Enterprise Institute.

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