House Judiciary Examines Recess Appointments

The House Judiciary Committee might not be the most obvious body to conduct oversight of President Obama's recent recess appointments to the NLRB and the CFPB.  But that's just what it did in a hearing yesterday, featuring testimony by two former OLCers and a law professor.

The prepared statements of the Honorable Charles Cooper (arguing against authority for the appointments), John Elwood (arguing for), and Jonathan Turley (arguing against) are together a terrific back-and-forth on the constitutional issues and a wonderful complement to the Obama administration's OLC memo concluding that the appointments were authorized.

We've covered this issue from its beginning.  Here are some highlights:

• Plaintiffs in ongoing litigation challenge the President's recess appointments to the NLRB in court;
• Republican Senators join that suit as amicus;
• Obama Administration's OLC OKs the recess appointments;
• The President makes the recess appointments in the first place.

SDS