Sens. Hatch, Lee on Supreme Court ruling limiting Obama’s recess appointments

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WASHINGTON, D.C. – Sens. Orrin Hatch and Mike Lee issued statements Thursday after the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously decided in National Labor Relations Board v. Noel Canning that President Obama’s appointments to the Relations Board were unconstitutional.

Together, 41 Senate colleagues filed an amicus brief in the case, decided Thursday, arguing that these appointments were unconstitutional. That effort came after a letter in December 2012, signed by every Senate Republican, which called on President Obama not to appoint nominees to the National Labor Relations Board without Senate approval.

Sen. Orrin Hatch said:

Today, the Supreme Court emphatically rejected President Obama’s brazen efforts to circumvent the Constitution, bypass the people’s elected representatives, and govern above the law. The Court’s unanimous decision demonstrates how the President’s actions contradicted both constitutional text and longstanding precedents that enshrine the Senate’s legitimate role in federal appointments. The Court has reaffirmed the Senate’s vital advice-and-consent role as a check on executive abuses. I applaud the Court’s willingness to stand up to President Obama’s flagrantly unconstitutional power grab.  This decision strengthens my determination to stand up for the separation of powers against the President’s disturbing pattern of lawlessness.

Sen. Mike Lee said:

On January 3, 2012 the President ignored the Constitution and attempted to circumvent the Senate by unilaterally making important appointments to controversial executive agencies. Although past presidents have made recess appointments, the appointments President Obama attempted to make were different. The President attempted to change the Senate’s rules and define for himself when the Senate is in session and when it is in recess. The Supreme Court’s decision today – in which all nine justices, including President Obama’s own nominees, held that President Obama violated the Constitution – makes plain that the President’s actions were truly unprecedented and unauthorized.

Regardless of whether the President is a Democrat or a Republican, Members of Congress have a duty to support the Constitution and defend the Senate’s prerogatives. That is why I took measures to oppose President Obama’s unconstitutional recess appointments, including speaking out against these appointments at every opportunity and opposing the President’s nominees until the Senate imposed the Leahy-Thurmond rule in the summer of 2012.

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6 Comments

  • Oakley Whelhimar June 26, 2014 at 5:40 pm

    As the assist of Shar Lingtwist. All I can say is, it’s amazing that 50 percent of American citizens ignore the truth. I quote Beeny McBethnal-Both arms stretched out Hoping for scraps to be thrown their way. For they have lost their self worth, laziness and immoral behavior drags them down to the pit of hell. Their soul is
    secreted into never ending woe into the bowls of the universe.

  • D Hodja June 26, 2014 at 6:10 pm

    Trust these two men no further than you can throw them

  • elliemae100 June 26, 2014 at 7:39 pm

    Recess Appointments: President Obama has made 32; George Bush made 171, Bill Clinton made 139, George Bush (first one, single term) made 78, Reagan made 232. Let’s all hail Hatch & Lee, who are strangely silent on the appointments made by other presidents but quite vocal about those few that Obama has made. Perhaps if they spent more time being lawmakers instead of complaining about others, our country would be in better shape

  • Big Guy June 27, 2014 at 10:43 am

    During the time in question, the Senate was NOT in recess: no Senator, Democrat or Republican, disputes this. The Senate was meeting perfunctorily only every third day but it was not in recess. That was the finding of the Supreme Court, 9-0. In other words, all liberal members of the Court were in full agreement that Obama violated the Constitution. Previous presidents made their recess appointments only when the Senate was truly in recess. Therefore, ELLIEMAE’s numbers above are “apples to oranges.” And Obama, the former “constitutional lawyer,” has been found in violation of the Constitution 12 times by the Supreme Court.

    • Bender June 27, 2014 at 11:04 am

      BIG GUY you ignore the fact that the practice of the senate meeting perfunctory every three days in order to prevent presidential recess appointments is a recent Republican practice . Obama’s appointments have been stymied to an extent never seen before in the history of the republic. Most presidents, GOP and Democratic, have pushed the limits of presidential power. Obama’s behavior in this respect is no different than Little Bush’s. He pushed the limits with the recess appointments in order to break the log jam and then got called on it by the Supreme Court. Stop the foaming at the mouth and recognize this for what it is — the normal push and pull for power between the three branches of government.

  • philiplo June 28, 2014 at 12:26 am

    Editor, your headline writer should enroll in a refresher course on combining accuracy and respect while on the job. The Supreme Court was not “limiting Obama’s recess appointments.” Rather, the ruling affects “President Obama’s recess appointments” or, better, “Presidential recess appointments.”

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