Obama Defeat on NLRB Picks a Rare Loss on Recess Power

A court ruling that President Barack Obama’s recess appointment of labor board members was illegal in part because the Senate was in session stands against rulings by three sister courts supporting the power, one of which warned that “executive paralysis” would result otherwise.

A unanimous panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington sided last week with Republican lawmakers who claimed the 2012 appointments to the National Labor Relations Board were unconstitutional. The picks, made after Republicans refused to consider Obama’s nominees, were “constitutionally invalid” because the Senate wasn’t in recess at the time, the panel held. The court went further, saying valid appointments could only be made for vacancies that occurred while the Senate was adjourned.