Recess appointments

Republicans Press House GOP Leaders To Pick Public Fight Over Obama Recess Appointments

Brian Beutler | January 11, 2012, 1:00PM

House Speaker John Boehner with House Majority Leader Eric Cantor in the foreground.

This post was updated at 1:21 p.m. to reflect comment from House GOP Leadership.

President Obama's recess appointment of Consumer Financial Protection Bureau director Richard Cordray could create another internal headache for Republican leaders in the House, many of whose members want to pick a public fight with Democrats over the controversy.

Scores of House Republicans have signed on to a non-binding resolution disapproving of Obama's four winter recess appointments -- Cordray, and three members of the National Labor Relations Board -- all fodder for conservatives, who are furious about the existence of these agencies, let alone the recess appointments themselves.

"It's astounding to me that the president is claiming these are recess appointments and within his authority, when Congress was not in fact in recess," said Rep. Diane Black (R-TN) who authored the resolution. "These appointments are an affront to the Constitution. No matter how you look at this, it doesn't pass the smell test. I hope the House considers my resolution as soon as we return to Washington so we can send a message to President Obama."

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Recess appointments

Obama's Recess Appointments Dilemma Is About To Get Worse

Brian Beutler | January 11, 2012, 5:25AM

President Barack Obama

Despite making several key, contentious recess appointments since Congress left town, the Obama administration is still operating with scores of vacancies, including an unexpected hole at the top of the Office of Management and Budget.

But their options for filing those vacancies are likely limited, unless President Obama is willing to dial his use of the recess appointment power up even further.

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Jon Stewart

Jon Stewart Takes On Latest Republican Freak-Out

David Taintor | January 6, 2012, 10:03AM

Jon Stewart

Jon Stewart on Thursday took on the latest Republican freak-out: President Obama's "unprecedented" power grab. What could that possibly be?

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Richard Cordray

Cordray Gets Cracking Even As GOP Complains

Brian Beutler | January 5, 2012, 1:30PM

President Barack Obama announces the appointment of Richard Cordray as the nation's chief consumer watchdog at an event in Shaker Heights, OH on January 4, 2012.

The freshly recess-appointed head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau dismissed concerns about the legitimacy of his recess appointment, and says he'll discharge his duties as the nation's top consumer watchdog as if he'd landed in the director's chair in a less contentious way.

"I have been appointed as the director of the Bureau," Cordray said at a Brookings Institute event Thursday. "It's a valid appointment. But I will leave those details to others."

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National Labor Relations Board

Obama Suddenly On A Recess Appointments Roll

Brian Beutler | January 4, 2012, 3:38PM

President Barack Obama speaks on the economy in Shaker Heights, OH on January 4, 2012.

Add the National Labor Relations Board to the list of agencies that will be given new life thanks to President Obama's decision to thwart Senate Republicans and use his recess appointment power expansively.

The administration just announced that Obama will appoint Sharon Block, Terence Flynn, and Richard Grifin to the NLRB, preventing it from being crippled indefinitely thanks to Senate Republican intransigence.

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Richard Cordray

Why Obama Chose To Appoint Cordray The Hard Way

Brian Beutler | January 4, 2012, 2:20PM

Richard Cordray, nominee for Director of the United States Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

Republicans are predictably attacking President Obama's decision to recess appoint Richard Cordray -- his top consumer watchdog -- on procedural grounds and with constitutional volleys. This is why Obama and Cordray's allies thought it might be wiser for Obama to make the appointment on Tuesday when, for technical reasons, he could have relied on precedent and avoided opening this particular Pandora's box.

But by taking a more daring approach, Obama managed to both wrongfoot the GOP politically, and secure for Cordray up to an extra year in the director's chair at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

Here's why:

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Barack Obama

Why Obama's Defying The GOP And Appointing Top Consumer Watchdog

Brian Beutler | January 4, 2012, 9:54AM

President Barack Obama

Update 10:17 Eastern. This post has been updated from an earlier version in order to reflect the full confirmation that has now come in..

The White House confirmed Wednesday morning that President Obama will announce a recess appointment for Richard Cordray to run the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau at a speech in Ohio later today. Cordray was a well-liked Ohio Attorney General until last year, after he was toppled by the GOP midterm wave in 2010.

Cordray's an accidental victim of a brazen act of GOP obstruction. They're refusing to allow an up-or-down vote on any CFPB nominee until the agency itself is fundamentally weakened -- an extra-legal attempt to nullify a key portion of an act of law.

Obama actually missed his best opportunity to recess appoint his top consumer watchdog on Tuesday. But there are reasons Obama opted to take a more confrontational approach.

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Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

Obama Misses Key Window For Empowering Top Consumer Watchdog

Brian Beutler | January 3, 2012, 12:53PM

President Barack Obama

Today was the day that legal experts and many aides in both parties thought President Obama would provide a recess appointment to Richard Cordray, his nominee to administer the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

The rationale is quite technical, but here's the bottom line: one reading of the Constitution and of executive branch administrative law suggest that today is Obama's last day to recess appoint any of his languishing nominees, at least until the next time the Senate leaves town several weeks from now.

But a senior administration official who would not be quoted told reporters at a White House background briefing Tuesday that Obama will not take advantage of that opening.

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