President Obama has already announced his nominations to fill out the National Labor Relations Board, but rather than wait for the Senate confirmation process, many on the “progressive” side are pushing the President to use his power of recess appointment to ram the appointments through. According to NBC Politics,
Asked Tuesday whether there was a possibility that Obama would give Cordray or nominees to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) recess appointments, Obama spokesman Jay Carney replied, “We’re not relinquishing any rights here.”
Obama’s progressive allies cite the case of President Theodore Roosevelt in 1903 who used a brief inter-session recess to make over 160 appointments, mostly of military officers, according to the Congressional Research Service.
It is still unclear whether the recess appointments would stand up, since the Senate is holding pro forma sessions every three days for the expressed purpose of preventing such appointments. The tactic has been used successfully before, most recently against George W. Bush.
Is Member Becker still sitting as an NLRB member? If so, when will his term end?
Becker’s appointment ends with the start of a new session of Congress on January 3, 2012.
Is Becker still sitting today? (It’s January 3rd, 2012)
Have there been any recess appointments today?