The Washington Times
On Wednesday, President Obama infuriated Republicans and threatened to spark a constitutional crisis when he announced he would make four recess appointments during a “pro forma” session of Congress. A pro forma session occurs when Congress “gavels in and gavels out” every three days but is not technically on recess.
The fact that the president recess-appointed four nominees absent an actual recess is outrageous in itself and has drawn well-deserved condemnation. But also troubling is the way in which he made two appointments to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).
The president submitted the nominations of Sharon Block and Richard Griffin on Dec. 15, only one day before the Senate adjourned for the year on Dec. 16.
The last-minute nominations set these two apart from Mr. Obama’s appointment of Richard Cordray to head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and his earlier appointment to the NLRB of Terence Flynn. Their nominations were made months ago.