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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsDid SCOTUS Spark A Constitutional Crisis?
Supreme Court May Have Opened The Door To A Constitutional CrisisSAHIL KAPUR JULY 4, 2014, 9:00 AM EDT
The Supreme Court may have laid the groundwork for a constitutional crisis if Republicans win control of the Senate in the November elections, creating the possibility of a stalemate between the executive and legislative branches when it comes to keeping the government operational.
The landmark ruling in Noel Canning v. NLRB last week eliminated the president's only fallback option to appoint leaders to government agencies when the Senate won't act. The justices unanimously said the Constitution forbids the president from making recess appointments unless the Senate is officially on recess.
If Republicans control the Senate, they could stop President Barack Obama from naming anyone to a top government position by technically keeping the Senate in session even when members are out of town or on break. (These are known as pro forma sessions, when the Senate gavels in and out but doesn't conduct business; the Supreme Court said the president may not make recess appointments during these periods.) In the worst case scenario, it could paralyze major federal departments and agencies.
"You could potentially end up with a real crisis of governance," said Norm Ornstein, a congressional scholar with the American Enterprise Institute.
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http://talkingpointsmemo.com/dc/noel-canning-supreme-court-constitutional-crisis
yeoman6987
(14,449 posts)We won't be able to change the constitution no matter what we want. We can't even get a simple bill through both the Senate and House. How are we going to change the Constitution? It won't be happening anytime soon.
Fred Sanders
(23,946 posts)yeoman6987
(14,449 posts)However, I don't know when that is going to happen.
Kablooie
(18,634 posts)The more disasters they create the more extreme they become and for some reason they suck in all conservatives like a vacuum.
We don't see a mass exodus from the extremist philosophy, only deeper entrenchment.
We keep hoping that conservatives will wake up and see what the extremists are doing to them but it never happens.
I don't think they will just go away.
It will take some kind of cataclysmic event to resolve this and it will come some day.
Fred Sanders
(23,946 posts)to them by the legal vacuum left after Citizens United and Republican obstruction for new laws.
Only the voting will tell.
Kablooie
(18,634 posts)This makes the extremists more powerful and the more power they get, the more they will take.
Our country is making a wide, permanent swing to the right.
NYC Liberal
(20,136 posts)recess appointments in 2007-2008.