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发帖数: 29846 | 1 By MELANIE TROTTMAN
A federal appeals court on Friday ruled that President Barack Obama violated
the Constitution when he bypassed the Senate to fill vacancies on the
National Labor Relations Board.
A federal appeals court ruled that President Obama violated the Constitution
when he bypassed the Senate to fill vacancies on a labor panel. Aaron
Zitner reports on Lunch Break. Photo: AP.
The three-judge panel said that as a result, the labor-relations board has
lacked the quorum it needs to conduct much of its business.
The court's decision could also have implications for Richard Cordray, the
head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. President Barack Obama
also used a recess appointment to name him to his position after Republicans
blocked his nomination from coming to a vote.
Previously
The challenge to the appointments was made in a lawsuit filed against the
NLRB by soda bottler and distributor Noel Canning. The company claimed that,
among other things, a board ruling against it in a union dispute last year
year was moot because Mr. Obama didn't seek Senate approval for three
members he appointed to the board during recess. The company contended that
those members were invalid, so the board, which has five slots, lacked the
necessary quorum needed to issue the ruling.
The court ruled Friday that, because it agreed that the appointments were
constitutionally invalid and the board therefore lacked a quorum, it also
vacated the board's order against Noel Canning.
The NLRB didn't have an immediate comment on the decision.
The outcome of the case rode on whether the Senate was in recess when Mr.
Obama made the appointments during a holiday break.
On Jan. 4, 2012, Mr. Obama appointed Democratic union lawyer Richard Griffin
, Democratic Labor Department official Sharon Block and Republican NLRB
lawyer Terence Flynn. Mr. Flynn stepped down from the board later in the
year. |
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