Breaking: Obama also set to make recess appointments to the NLRB

[jefferson_dem]

Breaking: Obama also set to make recess appointments to the NLRB
By Greg Sargent

It isn’t just Richard Cordray. Obama is also set to use recess appointments to install his picks to head the National Labor Relations Board, according to White House officials and others familiar with ongoing discussions.

The move, which is arguably as impotant as the Cordray appointment, will ratchet up opposition from Republicans and make this an even bigger fight, since they have been attacking the NLRB regularly for its moves to streamline union elections and inform workers of their rights.

Obama is set to appoint Sharon Block, Terence Flynn, and Richard Grifin to the board — something unions have made a big priority for them in the new year. Senate Republicans have opposed the recess appointments to the NLRB on constitutional grounds, but unions charge that Republicans are only interested in rendering the agency inoperative.

Obama’s move, which will help energize unions in advance of the 2012 election, is yet another sign that he is determined to circumvent GOP opposition and make government functional again by any means necessary. It’s another sign that the White House and Dems have abanoned the illusion that anything can be done to secure bipartisan

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/post/breaking-obama-also-set-to-make-recess-appointments-to-the-nlrb/2012/01/04/gIQABCkvaP_blog.html

[Inuca]

1. YOu beat me to it :-)

I just saw this in my tweeter feed. He is on a war path, isn't he?

[jefferson_dem]

3. No shit.

What's the GOP going to do... Whine a little bit more? Let 'em have it POTUS!

[asjr]

11. He won't be Mr Nice Guy anymore! The Republicans

are going to miss him.

[Inuca]

12. He truly did try to cooperate, and

I for one I am glad he did. But he learned that unfortunately it is not possible with the current crop of Rs.

[PatrynXX]

41. reason it doesn't work

is all folks who would negotiate with the dems turned dem. All the Repukes left are radicals..

[cstanleytech]

49. My apologies but you made an error there

"All the Repukes left are radicals." should have been "All the Repukes left are radically insane nutjobs."

[Inuca]

59. Radical, in the sense of really conservative

is not even the issue, I think. It don' think that McConnell is super right-wing, not like a DeMint, for instance. But they are not willing to have a rational discourse and truly try to meet somewhere in the middle. There still a very small number that are not like that; Corker in the Senate is an example, definitely not a lefty, but quite smart and he seems to take his job seriously, he knows he was sent there to govern, not to play political games non-stop. It would be possible to deal with people like Corker or Lugar or the Maine ladies, we may not like the result, and neither would they, that's what a compromise is. But the way McConnell is working, these people almost do not have a voice.

[freshwest]

72. He's going to define himself vs. Romney. This is good.

[kenfrequed]

18. About time!

And yes, I do support him. More now in the days that he is borrowing talking points form Occupy Wallstreet and standing up to the damned obstructionist republicannots.

[tabatha]

2. He has just won a lot of votes today.

[jaxx]

4. Great news.

Give the pubs something to scream about along with Cordray. They have riled the President and he's kicking their asses.

[ellisonz]

60. +1

[Kingofalldems]

5. Double whammy for republicans!!

And their internet allies!!

Hahahahaha!

[sinkingfeeling]

6. Excellent news! The GOP has been trying to kill off the NLRB!

[rurallib]

7. WTF???? Great!!!!!!

[young but wise]

8. K&R.

[Lone_Star_Dem]

9. When the Republicans take these appointments to court...

It's going to bring to light to the average voter how they've been circumventing the system and stalling the governmental process. These pro forma sessions of the Senate are something many voters have either not heard of, or don't understand.

The only people a move such as that will resonate with for Repulicans is the staunch GOP supporters. Who they already have in their pockets. The rest of the country is tired of the stalling tactics the Republicans have been employing on our governmental system. All they see is nothing is being done and things are not changing fast enough in their daily lives.

This has a strong possibility to backfire in a massive way on the Republicans in November. Time will of course tell, but I can see the strategy being developed here and I'm impressed.

[FBaggins]

20. Unless we lose in court

Then it looks like it's the President who is circumventing the system.

And I don't trust the current court to rule in our favor. Frankly... I'm not even sure that the law is on our side. Is there any precedent?

On edit - The link in #17 appears to provide some precedent... so that's good. Now the question is whether the courts will rule correctly.

[Lone_Star_Dem]

24. There is no precedent

That's actually what the administration is threatening to set. It's a maneuver, which if left to go to the courts, would expose the manipulation of the system and set a legal precedent to end it, or not.

As I've said elsewhere, it could get interesting. What I've only recently come to realize is that it's also going to shine an unpleasant light on the GOP for holding up the process at a time when the vast majority Americans being polled are tired of the delays.

However, you're correct, there's no guarantee of a victory. It would seem extremely foolish for the president to choose this exact time (beginning of his 2012 campaign) to set himself up for a fight he expects to lose. I believe the GOP may have themselves backed into a corner and they're effectively unable to pursue this without taking an even bigger beating at the polls in November.

One edit: you meant a precedent for his appointment. I mistook you to mean for McConnell's claims. My apologies. Yes, there is a precedent for Obama's actions.

[FBaggins]

28. I think that the President is willing to roll the dice.

As things stand right now, he has a very difficult path to victory. Anything that shakes up the current mix could be a good thing... while if it goes against him it can't hurt all that much (compared with high unemployment, etc).

[Lone_Star_Dem]

34. I don't forsee this going against him.

The timing is perfect and the appointments were too long delayed. I cannot imagine the Republicans actually taking these appointments to court and winning. If they lose then they lose not only face they lose seats and the pro forma sessions would have definitive limits drawn. Preventing them from exploiting them in such a fashion ever again.

The Republicans have a great deal to lose and as you said, Obama has little to lose.

[FBaggins]

77. Something I hadn't considered.

The republicans don't need to take it to court. Some "industry group" will do it for them.

[dotymed]

45. "W" made alot of recess appointments.

What is different about this?

[cstanleytech]

51. Probably the main difference is that

this time its a democrat who is allegedly a secret muslim, socialist, marxists, anti-american, non-citizen president.............oh and he is "black"............oh the horror the horror!!!!
And all or a combo of thats probably what the nutjobs who are opposing this in their hearts of hearts think about him..............that and they have to answer to the ones that support them the most and no its not the american people but rather the corporations.

[onenote]

52. ostensibly what is different is that the Senate was conducting pro forma sessions

and thus, according to one theory, was not truly in a recess during which the recess appointment power can be exercised. Notably, this is the theory that the Democrats successfully relied upon to deter chimpy from making any recess appointments in 2007 and 2008. While that makes this situation different from the situation in which there is no issue over whether or not the Senate is in recess, the WH takes the position (and I agree, for whatever that's worth) that the pro forma strategy is not a valid way to avoid the application of the recess appointment power and thus the president can act. The not so subtle message to the repubs: just because chimpy decided not to challenge the pro forma session strategy doesn't mean Obama can't and won't.

[DirkGently]

82. Didn't we hear earlier, in this very forum, this was why Obama *couldn't* do this?

[sofa king]

54. There is a difference.

One big difference is that while the Bush Administration was shady, opportunistic, and totally contemptuous of tradition, decorum, and honor, they were also terribly incompetent. They did not know or understand the actual rules and practices of their own branch of government, much less those of Congress. I'm sure their legal aces looked into the possibility themselves... but the Bush Administration were having too much success by simply breaking the law rather than threading a path through rules they freely violated whenever they could.*

Thus Harry Reid was able to completely shut down the recess appointments of the Bush Administration for the last two years of Shrub's second term. Reid did it by bending Congress' own rules (to be fair, it's a rule-bending that's been going on for decades, regardless of the party in power). While Reid held the Senate open in "pro forma" session, there was not a quorum present, and therefore no actual business could be conducted.

This time, the recess appointment comes during the pseudo-vacation Congress takes in January, where they wander into DC for a couple of days and then go straight back to another week of vacation that the rest of us don't get.

President Obama is now saying, "okay, you buttholes, if you want to stop me from making an appointment, you need to ACTUALLY STOP ME from making the appointment. If Congress can't conduct business, then it ain't in session, and it can't stop me. You want to keep Congress in session, then you have to actually BE THERE, working.

And I suspect that if the GOP is unwise enough to pursue this case in the courts, they will learn the hard way that President Obama is correct.

One of the things I love about President Obama is that he seems to completely understand the shallow nature of the Republicans, and when they really piss him off, he often returns to a clever little trick. Republicans don't empathize with others, don't give a shit about you or me...

...But take away a Republican's fucking vacation, and all of a sudden they start paying attention.

President Obama has already managed to do this on at least two prior occasions through more purely political means, for example by steering the national debate to job creation just as Congress recessed last fall, forcing Republican staffers to actually learn how to create jobs so that they could tell their bosses what lies to tell when they found the local press waiting to ask about it back home.

That's what this move is really designed to do: Keep asshole Republican Members of Congress--particularly the Senate--stuck in DC during the August recess (and the shorter ones before and after August) when every one of them needs to be back home campaigning.

It allows for all sorts of dirty tricks down the road, like waiting for Republican Senators to allow the ten GOP Senators up for reelection this year to go home to campaign in August, then showing up with every Democratic Senator and an unexpected supermajority, invoking cloture, and passing a raft of previously held-up bills. To prevent that, they have to stay in DC.

President Obama has presented them with a choice: you can go on vacation, and I'll run wild, or you can stick around to keep an eye on me, and lose your reelection.

It's also a potentially important test case, because if the Republicans manage to take control of the Senate in November, the President will use this same break next year to pocket-veto an extension of the tax cuts for rich people, which will be the first and only order of business for a Republican Senate in early January, 2013. So he's not just threatening to steal this vacation from them, he's threatening to steal next year's vacation from them, too.

He's a very, very clever President, and we are damned lucky to have him.


* The Bush Administration had its own end-run around recess appointments, which is that they would simply break the law and leave Senate-approved appointments vacant, then identify a reliable Republican government worker within that office and appoint that person in an "acting" role. The Bureau of Indian Affairs was a fine example. The Bush Administration required that all nominees must "demonstrate loyalty" to the President, in the form of tens of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions. It turns out there was only one American Indian that stupid, and he held the job of Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs for maybe eighteen months. For much of the rest of those eight years, the BIA was run by a reliable accomplice who had worked for the Bush campaign while she was a law student.

[klook]

58. Thanks for this excellent overview.

Fascinating post, and I appreciate the information & perspective.

[sofa king]

61. You're welcome!

But I need to stress that if I don't provide links to what I say, then it's just my opinion, and almost certain to be incorrect in some of the details. I've been getting slack about providing citations. So here are a couple:

Here's a Congressional Research Service report (.pdf file) on Supreme Court appointments which discusses the history of recess appointments to that body:

http://fpc.state.gov/documents/organization/50146.pdf

And some more crap I wrote a while back:

http://journals.democraticunderground.com/sofa%20king/87

[klook]

64. Correct. Thanks for the links. (n/t)

[joshcryer]

63. Wonderful post sofa king, thanks!

[Scootaloo]

71. The president also has the constitutional authority to adjourn congress

If the Houses cannot agree to a date of adjournment. i.e., this "Pro forma" BS. Either congress is adjourned, or it's not; you simply can't have it both ways.

[emulatorloo]

80. Thanks for the post, sofa king. Sounds like a pretty good read on the situation.

[Lone_Star_Dem]

55. What's different is this one was made during an alleged pro forma session

However, these foolish antics of convening the Senate every three days for a brief period during recess to attempt to squelch the powers of the president are of questionable legality. Also, the administration has precedent since such appointments were made by Roosevelt often.

As I said in my edit to my other post. I mistook what the other poster's intentions were as to who had precedent. I thought they were referring to McConnell's claims of a precedent for the Republican's abuse of the pro forma sessions.

My mistake.

[EC]

22. That's why the repubs won't do much more

than make a fuss.

[Lone_Star_Dem]

26. I expect that's true

They've been out maneuvered.

[cstanleytech]

53. "They've been out maneuvered." most of what has happened to them recently

has been entirely self inflicted though like the whole part with the senate voting yes to the 2 month tax break and the republican congress trying to torpedo it.

Edit: You know, I didnt get any Christmas gifts because we are trying to pay bills like the electric and the mortgage but that ^ kinda felt like an early Christmas present from the GOP.....you think I should send them a thank you card?

[Lone_Star_Dem]

56. In many ways this is their own doing as well

It's due to the highly publicized antics by the Teabaggers in congress that Americans even know there's no real progress taking place. Without their repeatedly blocking legislation expected to pass, most voters wouldn't have such a dismal attitude toward the current congress.

They're kind of like the gift that keeps on giving.

[SpiralHawk]

10. Go Bama Go

yes

[hedgehog]

13. Now, we need a statement from a "puzzled" and"regretful" Obama

stating that he is still trying to work with the Republicans, but in light of continued and expanding disorganization and confusion on their part, he must proceed unilaterally for the good of the country. Something to the effect that the country can't wait for the Republicans to get their act together!

[paulk]

14. good.

I think Obama is finally getting the message that playing nice with the Republicans will get hem nowhere.

[Scurrilous]

15. K & R

[livetohike]

16. The President's New Year's Resolution: Stick it to the GOP

It's going to be a great year!

[rocktivity]

17. KY Senator Mitch McConnell: "...President Obama, in an unprecedented move,

has arrogantly circumvented the American people by ‘recess’ appointing Richard Cordray as director of the new CFPB. This recess appointment represents a sharp departure from a long-standing precedent that has limited the President to recess appointments only when the Senate is in a recess of 10 days or longer..."
More

Got anything else to say, Big Mouth?


rocktivity

[yellowcanine]

27. "long-standing precedent... recess appointments only when the Senate is in a recess of 10 days..."

Heh. The only place that long-standing precedent exists is in Mitch's ass. Funny I don't remember Mitch talking about "long standing precedents" when George W. Bush was making 171 recess appointments.

[onenote]

37. In fact, all of chimpy's recess appontments were made during recesses of ten days or more

and he didn't try to make any recess appointments the last two years of his term when the Democrats used the pro forma session ploy as grounds for arguing that the Senate was not in an extended recess.

Having pointed out those facts, let me emphasize that what chimpy did or didn't do really doesn't matter. Even lawyers who served in the bush administration have argued publicly that the pro forma session gambit isn't a valid way to block the exercise of the recess appointment power. If chimpy fell for it for two years, well then, bad on him. The fact is that the President is claiming, with some basis, that the Senate has been, de facto, in an extended recess notwithstanding the calling of pro forma sessions at which no business was or could be conducted. Good for the president. And tough toenails for Mitch and the congressional repubs.

[Pab Sungenis]

19. I said to keep going

and he has! Brilliant!

Next: those judicial nominees!

[yellowcanine]

21. In other news Mitch McConnell is hospitalized after breaking his foot when he kicked at his dog and

missed, hitting a door jamb.

[rocktivity]

23. Well that's what allegedly happened

to Scooter Libby!


rocktivity

[usrname]

25. It's unfortunate

that Obama has to perform good deeds during the last year of his term, otherwise people won't remember it when it comes time to vote. I really think a bunch of what he's doing is done now in order to build momentum for the upcoming election.

However, once he gets re-elected, he will have the freedom to do the right things throughout the term. And when that happens, it will generate a lot of positives and hopefully allow the next D candidate to ride on that coattail.

Clinton basically did that, but the Lewinsky affair ripped up the coattail and Gore couldn't (wouldn't, rather) ride on that coattail. If the Lewinsky affair didn't happen, Gore would have easily coasted into a victory by leveraging Clinton's 4-5 years of positive growth, plans to use the surplus for rebuilding infrastructure, etc.

I think the long-term view of what Obama is doing is that it's the smart thing. He had to play cooperative for much of the first term. If the Rs actually did cooperate, he'd win. But if not, he can use that to show he tried. Now, he can show what he can do without cooperation, and that it will be good for the people.

[MilesColtrane]

29. That's what I'm talking about.

This is news I've been waiting to hear.

Thank you, Mr. President.

[Robb]

30. It's a done deal.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/breaking/chi-obama-skirts-congress-again-to-fill-nlrb-posts-20120104,0,7957979.story

[demosincebirth]

31. "inform workers of their rights." Shame on Obama and the NLRB!

[MADem]

33. Ha ha ha!

You know some concrete person is going to take you at face value without one of those things, doncha?

Irony impairment is a real condition, I fear!

[demosincebirth]

68. I can't find the link for those dingys, but you're right.

[MADem]

69. Same as the old days!

Type a : then type sarcasm, then put another : on the end--no spaces, of course!

They haven't set up a click-n-post capability yet, they have put a list of "how to make 'em" in META, though!

[tridim]

46. It's all his Wall Street masters pulling his strings.

BTW, he slammed the Wall Street casino again today in his speech. No doubt more string pulling from his Wall St. masters.

[killbotfactory]

67. Workers have... RIGHTS?

[MADem]

32. Let the GOP gripe--they'll be on the wrong side of history on this issue.

Like that's news! And you can't help but LOVE this LABOR pushback!!!

The statement from AFL-CIO president Richard Trumka:

We commend the President for exercising his constitutional authority to ensure that crucially important agencies protecting workers and consumers are not shut down by Republican obstructionism. Working families and consumers should not pay the price for political ploys that have repeatedly undercut the enforcement of rules against Wall Street abuses and the rights of working people.
UPDATE II: With the GOP likely to frame this latest as another Obama power grab, Travis Waldron offers a rebuttal:

Republicans have shown outrage at Obama for using his recess appointment powers with Consumer Financial Protection Bureau director Richard Cordray, and similar outrage is likely to follow the news of the NLRB appointments. But the past three Republican presidents also made recess appointments to the NLRB. Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush each made three recess appointments to the NLRB, while George W. Bush made seven such appointments.

[MilesColtrane]

35. All three appointees are long-time labor lawyers.

A former counsel for Teddy Kennedy with previous NLRB experience:

Sharon Block is the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Congressional Affairs at the U.S. Department of Labor. Between 2006 and 2009, Ms. Block was Senior Labor and Employment Counsel for the Senate HELP Committee, where she worked for Senator Edward M. Kennedy.
Ms. Block previously served at the National Labor Relations Board as senior attorney to Chairman Robert Battista from 2003 to 2006 and as an attorney in the appellate court branch from 1996 to 2003. From 1994 to 1996, she was Assistant General Counsel at the National Endowment for the Humanities, and from 1991 to 1993, she was an associate at Steptoe & Johnson. She received a B.A. in History from Columbia University and a J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center where she received the John F. Kennedy Labor Law Award.

A counsel for the AFL-CIO with other union ties:

Richard Griffin is the General Counsel for International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE). He also serves on the board of directors for the AFL-CIO Lawyers Coordinating Committee, a position he has held since 1994.
Since 1983, he has held a number of leadership positions with IUOE from Assistant House Counsel to Associate General Counsel. From 1985 to 1994, Mr. Griffin served as a member of the board of trustees of the IUOE’s central pension fund. From 1981 to 1983, he served as a Counsel to NLRB Board Members. Mr. Griffin holds a B.A. from Yale University and a J.D. from Northeastern University School of Law.

And, a lawyer with previous NLRB and private firm experience:

Terence F. Flynn is currently detailed to serve as Chief Counsel to NLRB Board Member Brian Hayes. Mr. Flynn was previously Chief Counsel to former NLRB Board Member Peter Schaumber, where he oversaw a variety of legal and policy issues in cases arising under the National Labor Relations Act.
From 1996 to 2003, Mr. Flynn was Counsel in the Labor and Employment Group of Crowell & Moring, LLP, where he handled a wide range of labor and employment issues, including collective bargaining negotiations, litigation of unfair labor practices, defense of ERISA claims, and wage and hour disputes, among other matters. From 1992 to 1995, he was a litigation associate at the law firm David, Hager, Kuney & Krupin, where he counseled clients on federal, state, and local employment and wage hour laws, NLRB arbitrations, and other labor relations disputes. Mr. Flynn started his law career at the firm Reid & Priest, handling labor and immigration matters from 1990 to 1992. He holds a B.A. degree from University of Maryland, College Park and a J.D. from Washington & Lee University School of Law.

[MADem]

70. Isn't that just...brilliant? Gotta love it.

What fine resumes on that crew, as well.

[bigwillq]

36. Good job.

K and R

[Javaman]

38. Good. This is the Obama I voted for. nt

[Frustratedlady]

39. That vacation did him a lot of good!

Glad to see him fighting back. Enough of this gridlock.

[flpoljunkie]

40. Past three Republican presidents also made recess appointments to the NLRB. Dubya made seven!

UPDATE II: With the GOP likely to frame this latest as another Obama power grab, Travis Waldron offers a rebuttal:

Republicans have shown outrage at Obama for using his recess appointment powers with Consumer Financial Protection Bureau director Richard Cordray, and similar outrage is likely to follow the news of the NLRB appointments. But the past three Republican presidents also made recess appointments to the NLRB. Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush each made three recess appointments to the NLRB, while George W. Bush made seven such appointments.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/post/breaking-obama-also-set-to-make-recess-appointments-to-the-nlrb/2012/01/04/gIQABCkvaP_blog.html#pagebreak

[Kingofalldems]

42. Kick this one right back to the top

[blue-wave]

43. Please Stop

Mr. President! I can't stand nor do I care to see, John Boehner cry!

[slay]

44. Now THIS is the Obama I voted for - someone who will stand up for The American People

i greatly applaud Obama on his recess appointments today - and only wish he had made more of them.

[jpak]

47. GoBama! Fuck the GOP - let 'em whine

yup

[katty]

48. OK, then, this is what I voted for,,,he's on a roll! Yay!

[a2liberal]

50. Finally! (n/t)

[TBF]

57. That's what we want to hear! K&R nt

[Proles]

62. Awesome to see Obama laying down the law lately.

Hope he keeps it up!

[ejbr]

65. good! n/t

[Deep13]

66. Out damn standing. nt

[pacalo]

73. UPDATE: The statement from AFL-CIO president Richard Trumka:

We commend the President for exercising his constitutional authority to ensure that crucially important agencies protecting workers and consumers are not shut down by Republican obstructionism. Working families and consumers should not pay the price for political ploys that have repeatedly undercut the enforcement of rules against Wall Street abuses and the rights of working people.

[PhoenixAbove]

74. This is excellent news!

I hope we see more actions like this from the President. He must realize by now that it is impossible to negotiate with the Republican party. They've simply gone insane.

[whathehell]

75. Yes!!

[madokie]

76. Sic'm President Obama

Don't even let the pukes up for air, hell they haven't as much as given you the time of day for three years now so kick 'm in the gonads and make it hurt. I'm sick of republicons

[fasttense]

78. This is nothing but throwing a bone to liberals.

Everytime Obama does something for corporate RepubliCONS (like passing the bush tax cuts and signing into law the NDAA) he turns around and does a tiny, little thing for liberals (like doing away with DADT). It's just Obama playing both sides of the fence.

The things Obama gives to corporate RepubliCONS are much bigger than what he gives to liberals.

[jefferson_dem]

79. Haha...

Good one.

[DirkGently]

81. Good. More than justified w/Republicans' naked bad faith in blockading EVERYTHING.

[FredStembottom]

83. I know I'm days passed the freshness date...

..of this post BUT..

Ya-hoo!

Push ahead Mr. O!

There are millions of blue collar guys like me who could be returned to the Dem fold if you continue to act in ways that benefit them directly.