{"id":308533,"date":"2010-02-11T17:23:15","date_gmt":"2010-02-11T22:23:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/washingtonindependent.com\/?p=76453"},"modified":"2010-02-11T17:23:15","modified_gmt":"2010-02-11T22:23:15","slug":"%e2%80%98obama%e2%80%99s-recess-threat%e2%80%99","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/308533","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Obama\u2019s Recess Threat\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The Obama administration is reportedly looking more closely at recess appointments for some nominees who&#8217;ve been mowed down by filibusters, with Sen. Richard Shelby&#8217;s (R-Ala.) holds and the self-parodying filibuster of National Labor Relations Board nominee Craig Becker &#8212; it only took 33 votes to block him on a snowy half-workday &#8212; lighting a fire. The <a href=\"http:\/\/www.gop.com\/index.php\/briefing\/comments\/obamas_recess_threat\">RNC is putting out a preemptive attack on that<\/a>, and it&#8217;s worth reading to get a sense of just how the party is ready to frame this as a hypocritical and unfair denial of its right to block, basically, everything. Notably, many of their examples of Democratic quotes come from the period when the party had a Senate majority.<\/p>\n<p><span id=\"more-76453\"><\/span><\/p>\n<div>\n<p align=\"center\"><strong><em>In An Arrogant Attempt To Implement Job-Killing Regulations Through SEIU\/ACORN Lawyer Craig Becker, Obama Will Use Tactic He And Fellow Dems Blasted As \u201cAbuse Of Power\u201d<\/em><\/strong><strong><em><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><em>ROLL CALL<\/em><\/strong><strong>: \u201cThe Senate voted down one of President Barack Obama\u2019s nominees Tuesday, hours after Obama warned he would use his recess appointment power to get members of his team in place if necessary. The senate voted 52-33 against a procedural motion to move to the nomination of Craig Becker, the controversial pick tapped to serve on the National Labor Relations Board.\u201d<\/strong><em> <\/em>(Jessica Brady, \u201cSenate Rejects A Nominee As Obama Threatens Recess Appointments,\u201d <em><a href=\"http:\/\/www.rollcall.com\/news\/43157-1.html\">Roll Call<\/a><\/em>, 2\/9\/10)<\/p>\n<p align=\"center\"><strong>OBAMA WILLING TO PUT \u201cCARD CHECK CRAIG\u201d ON NLRB THROUGH RECESS APPOINTMENT, BYPASSING CONGRESS TO IMPLEMENT JOB-KILLING REGULATIONS<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Senate Rejected Obama\u2019s Nominee To National Labor Relations Board, Craig Becker. <\/strong>(Cloture Motion On Craig Becker, Of Illinois, To Be A Member Of The National Labor Relations Board, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.senate.gov\/legislative\/LIS\/roll_call_lists\/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=111&amp;session=2&amp;vote=00022\">Senate Roll Call Vote #22<\/a>, Rejected 52-33, D 50-2, R 0-33, 2\/9\/10)<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Becker Works As Lawyer For SEIU, AFL-CIO And ACORN.<\/strong> \u201cBecker [is] an associate general counsel to both the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and the AFL-CIO\u201d; \u201cMr. Becker says he \u2018worked with and provided advice\u2019 to SEIU Local 880 in Chicago \u2026 one of two SEIU locals currently in the national spotlight for its deep ties with Acorn \u2026 Acorn co-founder Wade Rathke praised Mr. Becker by name \u2026 \u2018For my money, Craig\u2019s signal contribution has been his work in crafting and executing the legal strategies and protections which have allowed the effective organization of informal workers &#8230;\u201d (Kevin Bogardus, \u201cLabor Board Nominee Heats Up Battle Over Union-Organizing Rules, <em><a href=\"http:\/\/thehill.com\/business-a-lobbying\/77869-labor-board-nominee-heats-up-card-check-fight\">The Hill<\/a><\/em>, 01\/25\/10; Editorial, \u201cAcorn\u2019s Ally At The NLRB,\u201d <em><a href=\"http:\/\/online.wsj.com\/article\/SB10001424052748704107204574471393545371128.html\">The Wall Street Journal<\/a><\/em>, 10\/15\/09)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>That\u2019s Why Obama Said \u201cIf The Senate Does Not Act To Confirm These Nominees, I Will Consider Making Several Recess Appointments During The Upcoming Recess \u2026\u201d<\/strong> (President Barack Obama, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.whitehouse.gov\/the-press-office\/news-conference-president-2910\">Remarks During Press Briefing<\/a>, The White House, 2\/9\/10)<\/p>\n<p><strong>Becker\u2019s Confirmation Could Mean Card Check Legislation Being \u201cRealized Through The Rule-Making Power Of The NLRB,\u201d Potentially Killing 1.5 Million Jobs Per Year. <\/strong>\u201c[F]or every 3 percentage points gained in union membership through card checks and mandatory arbitration, the following year\u2019s unemployment rate is predicted to increase by 1 percentage point and job creation is predicted to fall by around 1.5 million jobs.\u201d \u00a0(Dmitri Iglitzin and Steven Hill, \u201cObama\u2019s Pro-Union Nominations to Labor Relations Board Stalled,\u201d <em><a href=\"http:\/\/www.huffingtonpost.com\/steven-hill\/obamas-pro-union-nominati_b_436148.html\">The Huffington Post<\/a><\/em>, 01\/25\/10; Anne Layne-Farrar, \u201cAn Empirical Assessment of the Employee Free Choice Act: The Economic Implications,\u201d <a href=\"http:\/\/papers.ssrn.com\/sol3\/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1353305\"><em>SSRN.com<\/em><\/a><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">,<\/span> 3\/4\/09)<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Sen. Ben Nelson (D-NE) Voted Against Becker, Saying He Would Bring \u201cAn Aggressive Personal Agenda To The NLRB.\u201d <\/strong>(Sen. Ben Nelson, \u201cSenator Nelson Will Oppose Nominee With Personal Agenda,\u201d <a href=\"http:\/\/bennelson.senate.gov\/press\/press_releases\/020810-02.cfm\">Press Release<\/a>, 2\/8\/10)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p align=\"center\"><strong>BUT THEN SENS. OBAMA AND BIDEN BLASTED RECESS APPOINTMENTS <\/strong><strong>AS \u201cWRONG THING TO DO\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>In 2005, Obama Called Recess Appointment \u201cWrong Thing To Do.\u201d <\/strong>\u201cIt\u2019s the wrong thing to do. John Bolton is the wrong person for the job,\u201d said Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., a member of Foreign Relations Committee. \u201cThe president is entitled to take that action, but I don\u2019t think it will serve American foreign policy well.\u201d (Jennifer Loven, \u201cOfficials: White House To Bypass Congress For Bolton Nomination,\u201d <em><a href=\"http:\/\/news.google.com\/newspapers?nid=1842&amp;dat=20050730&amp;id=HTsyAAAAIBAJ&amp;sjid=4-QFAAAAIBAJ&amp;pg=1339,3894240\">The Associated Press<\/a><\/em>, 7\/30\/05)<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Obama Called Recess Appointee \u201cDamaged Goods,\u201d Claimed Appointee Would \u201cHave Less Credibility.\u201d<\/strong> \u201c\u2018To some degree, he\u2019s damaged goods,\u2019 Obama said of Bolton. \u201cNot in the history of United Nations representatives have we ever had a recess appointment, somebody who couldn\u2019t get through a nomination in the Senate. And I think that that means that we will have less credibility and ironically be less equipped to reform the United Nations in the way that it needs to be reformed \u2026\u2019\u201d (Bernard Schoenburg, \u201cBush Sends Bolton To U.N.; Durbin, Obama Criticize Move,\u201d <em>The State Journal-Register<\/em>, 8\/2\/05)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>In 2002, Biden Called Recess Appointment \u201cA Very Bad Political Move\u201d And \u201cNot \u2026 A Smart Thing To Do.\u201d<\/strong> \u201c[T]here are a number of Democrats who have much, much more concern about Reich than I do, and I said \u2026 \u2018But, Mr. President, this is not a wise thing to do \u2026\u2019 And I think it was a very bad political move on the president\u2019s part, and I really regretted having happened. We\u2019re going to have to now manage the fallout from this, and this was not a, respectfully speaking, smart thing to do, in my view.\u201d (NBC\u2019S Meet The Press, 01\/13\/02)<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>In 2005, Biden Said President Not Entitled To Appointment Of Any Nominee.<\/strong> \u201cAs I said, we don\u2019t work for the president. And no president is entitled to the appointment of anyone he nominates. No president is entitled by the mere fact he has nominated someone. That\u2019s why they wrote the Constitution the way they did: It says \u2018advice and consent.\u2019\u201d (Sen. Joe Biden, Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, Hearing, 5\/12\/05)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p align=\"center\"><strong>OBAMA\u2019S CONGRESSIONAL LIEUTENANTS, PELOSI AND REID, <\/strong><strong>CRITICIZED RECESS APPOINTMENTS AS HARMFUL AND \u201cMISCHIEVOUS\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>In 2005, Pelosi Said That Recess Appointments \u201cSubvert The Confirmation Process\u201d And \u201cWill Harm The United States\u2019 Reputation In The Eyes Of The International Community<\/strong>\u201d: \u201cThe President\u2019s decision to circumvent the Senate and use a recess appointment naming John Bolton as ambassador to the United Nations is a mistake\u2026.For President Bush to use a recess appointment for such a controversial nominee \u2013 not because there was a compelling case that Mr. Bolton was the best person for the job, but merely because the President had the power to do it \u2013 subverts the confirmation process in ways that will further harm the United States\u2019 reputation in the eyes of the international community. The American people deserve better.\u201d (Rep. Nancy Pelosi, \u201cPresident\u2019s Recess Appointment Of John Bolton Is A \u2018Mistake,\u2019\u201d <a href=\"http:\/\/www.gop.com\/mmoon\/Local%20Settings\/Temporary%20Internet%20Files\/Content.Outlook\/ZIM24IWB\/Nancy%20Pelosi%20Said%20That%20A%20Recess%20Appointment%20%E2%80%9CSubverts%20The%20Confirmation%20Process%E2%80%9D%20And%20%E2%80%9CWill%20Harm%20The%20United%20States%E2%80%99%20Reputation%20In%20The%20Eyes%20Of%20The%20International%20Community%E2%80%9D:%20%E2%80%9CThe%20President%E2%80%99s%20decision%20to%20circumvent%20the%20Senate%20and%20use%20a%20recess%20appointment%20naming\">Press Release<\/a>, 08\/01\/05)<\/p>\n<p><strong>In 2007, Reid Called Recess Appointments \u201cAn End Run Around The Senate And The Constitution.\u201d<\/strong> \u201cI will keep the Senate in pro forma session to block the President from doing an end run around the Senate and the Constitution with his controversial nominations.\u201d (Sen. Harry Reid, Congressional Record, S.15980, 12\/19\/07)<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>And Reid Thinks Recess Appointments \u201cAre Mischievous.\u201d <\/strong>\u201cAlso, understand this: We have had a difficult problem with the President now for some time. We don\u2019t let him have recess appointments because they are mischievous, and unless we have an agreement before the recess, there will be no recess. We will meet every third day pro forma, as we have done during the last series of breaks.\u201d (Sen. Reid, Congressional Record, S.7558, 7\/28\/08)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p align=\"center\"><strong>OBAMA\u2019S FORMER COLLEAGUES RIPPED RECESS APPOINTMENTS AS \u201cABUSE OF POWER\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) Says Recess Appointments \u201cIgnore The Will Of The Senate.\u201d <\/strong>\u201cWhen you have an appointment that is this critical and this sensitive, and the president basically says he\u2019s going to ignore the will of the senate and push someone through, it really is troubling.\u201d (Bernard Schoenburg, \u201cBush Sends Bolton To U.N.; Durbin, Obama Criticize Move,\u201d <em>The State Journal-Register<\/em>, 8\/2\/05)<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Durbin Says Recess Appointments \u201cUnconstitutional\u201d And \u201cConfrontational.\u201d<\/strong> \u201cI agree with Senator Kennedy that Mr. Pryor\u2019s recess appointment, which occurred during a brief recess of Congress, could easily be unconstitutional. It was certainly confrontational. Recess appointments lack the permanence and independence contemplated by the Framers of the Constitution.\u201d (Sen. Durbin, Congressional Record, S.6253, 6\/9\/05)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) Called Recess Appointments \u201cAbuse [Of] The Power Of The Presidency.\u201d<\/strong> \u201c\u2018It\u2019s sad but not surprising that this White House would abuse the power of the presidency to reward a donor over the objections of the Senate,\u2019 Kerry said in a statement &#8230;\u201d\u00a0 (Al Kamen, \u201cRecess Appointments Granted to \u2018Swift Boat\u2019 Donor, 2 Other Nominees,\u201d <em><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/wp-dyn\/content\/article\/2007\/04\/04\/AR2007040402405.html\">The Washington Post<\/a><\/em>, 04\/05\/07)<\/p>\n<p><strong>Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT) Questioned Legality Of Recess Appointments, Called Them \u201cAbuse Of Executive Authority.\u201d<\/strong> \u201cSen. Christopher J. Dodd (D-Conn.) said yesterday that he will ask the Government Accountability Office for a ruling on the legality of the unusual appointment, which he called \u2018an abuse of executive authority \u2026\u2019\u201d (Al Kamen, \u201cRecess Appointments Granted to \u2018Swift Boat\u2019 Donor, 2 Other Nominees,\u201d <em><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/wp-dyn\/content\/article\/2007\/04\/04\/AR2007040402405.html\">The Washington Post<\/a><\/em>, 04\/05\/07)<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Dodd Called Recess Appointments \u201cDeceptive\u201d And \u201cIllegal\u201d.<\/strong> \u201cDodd said Thursday that Fox\u2019s appointment was \u2018deceptive at best and illegal at worst,\u2019 and he asked the Government Accountability Office to investigate.\u201d (David Jackson, \u201cMany Presidents Have Used The Recess Option,\u201d <em><a href=\"http:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/news\/washington\/2007-04-05-bush-recess-option_N.htm\">USA Today<\/a><\/em>, 04\/05\/07)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) Said Recess Appointment \u201cShows Disrespect\u201d To Senate.<\/strong> \u201cCommittee spokeswoman Leslie Phillips issued a statement on Lieberman\u2019s behalf yesterday, saying that the \u2018decision to recess appoint Susan Dudley shows disrespect\u2019 for the Senate\u2019s authority to advise and consent on nominations.\u201d (Al Kamen, \u201cRecess Appointments Granted to \u2018Swift Boat\u2019 Donor, 2 Other Nominees,\u201d <em><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/wp-dyn\/content\/article\/2007\/04\/04\/AR2007040402405.html\">The Washington Post<\/a><\/em>, 04\/05\/07)<\/p>\n<p><strong>Sen. Russ Feingold (D-WI) Called Recess Appointments \u201cSlap\u201d To Institute Of The Senate. <\/strong>\u201cJudge Pickering was never confirmed by the Senate, but in a further slap to this institution, the President put him on the court through a recess appointment.\u201d (Sen. Feingold, Congressional Record, S.13289, 10\/24\/07)<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Feingold Feared Recess Appointments Place \u201cMost Egregious And Political Leadership\u201d In Major Executive Positions.<\/strong> \u201cIs that what we want? It means most likely there will be recess appointments this winter for the 10 major leadership positions in the Department. And what does that mean? Simply stated: The administration could put in place the most egregious and political leadership, and we&#8211;the Senate&#8211;could do nothing about it. We would have reduced transparency and reduced congressional oversight.\u201d (Sen. Feingold, Congressional Record, S.14158, 11\/8\/07)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) Said Recess Appointments \u201cBend The Rules And Circumvents The Will Of Congress.\u201d <\/strong>\u201c[E]ven while the president preaches democracy around the world, he bends the rules and circumvents the will of Congress\u2019 at home.\u201d (\u201cPresident Sends Bolton to U.N.; Bypasses Senate,\u201d <em>The New York Times<\/em>, 8\/02\/05)<\/p>\n<p><strong>Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) Said Recess Appointments \u201cBlindside\u201d Senators.<\/strong> \u201cPeople Are Concerned. With that in mind, Senate Democrats said they have little faith that Bush will play nice and refrain from making the controversial appointments. Democrats have been blindsided by Bush before, particularly in April when the president tapped three controversial nominees for executive branch slots\u2026..\u2019I think every time there\u2019s a recess, people are concerned that the president might use that\u2019 option, echoed Sen. Patty Murray (Wash.), the Democratic Conference secretary.\u201d (\u201cReid Mulls Pro Forma Sessions,\u201d <em>Roll Call<\/em>, 11\/15\/07)<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Obama administration is reportedly looking more closely at recess appointments for some nominees who&#8217;ve been mowed down by filibusters, with Sen. Richard Shelby&#8217;s (R-Ala.) holds and the self-parodying filibuster of National Labor Relations Board nominee Craig Becker &#8212; it only took 33 votes to block him on a snowy half-workday &#8212; lighting a fire. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4313,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-308533","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/308533","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4313"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=308533"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/308533\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=308533"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=308533"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=308533"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}