“ But gimmicks do not override the President’s constitutional authority to make appointments to keep the government running. On the White House blog, Director of Communications Dan Pfeiffer called the pro forma sessions a “ gimmick“. The lights are on, but nobody is really home. The technicalities are essentially meaningless, the Obama Administration counters. Nothing-or very little-occurs, but the bodies are technically meeting. The Senate does not even bother with the prayer and Pledge. In the House, the Chaplain offers a prayer, and then the Chair leads the Pledge of Allegiance, approves the Journal, and concludes business. There is no debate and legislation is not usually passed (but there are exceptions). However, the House and Senate have been holding “pro forma” sessions where the Speaker of the House and the Senate President pro tempore appoint a Member simply to open and close the body. At the end of 2011,the two Chambers did not agree to adjourn for more than three days, so each has reconvened every three days to fulfill its constitutionally required duties. Article 1, Section 5 of the Constitution states, “ Neither House, during the Session of Congress, shall, without the Consent of the other, adjourn for more than three days”. The catch in this case, however, is that Congressional Republicans assert that the legislature has legally been in session all along. No one disputes that the President may make a recess appointment. (For more information on the President’s “legislative” powers, see our post on executive orders.) In recent years, however, the Congress is in session most of the year, making the recess appointment pretty much a legislative tool of the executive. While there is little existing commentary by the Founders on this provision, it is widely assumed it was included to maintain the continuity of government in at a time when the Congress was in session less than half the year. This “recess appointment”, as it is called, allows the individual to serve in the position until the end of the current Congress, which, in this case, would be January 2013. However, the Constitution (Article II, Section 2, Clause 3) specifically allows the President to make a temporary appointment to an executive branch position without Senate approval if the Senate is in recess. Normally, when a President nominates a person to serve as a high-ranking official (such as a Supreme Court justice or a Cabinet member), the Senate must confirm them before they may begin their tenure. His latest move has been to appoint Richard Cordray to lead the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, as well as three new members of the National Labor Relations Board without the legally required Senate approval. Additionally, his campaign strategy has been to “run against Congress” and allege that the body has not done anything to solve the nation’s economic difficulties. He already declared war on Congress last year when he promised to use executive orders to institute his policies that would otherwise not have passed Congress. President Barack Obama has taken another move to enhance executive power in his recent dealings with Congress.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |