WFI - Group Petitions White House Website to Rescind Recess Appts

Please sign the petition that is on The White House webpage asking the president to follow the Constitution and rescind the recess appointments to the NLRB.

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Group Petitions WH Website to Rescind Recess Appts

Washington Examiner

Philip Klein

January 12, 2012

http://campaign2012.washingtonexaminer.com/blogs/beltway-confidential/group-petitions-wh-website-rescind-recess-appts/309381

A group that fights the abusive influence of big labor on workers and businesses has taken to theWhite House's "We the People" petition website to urge him to rescind his recess appointments to the National Labor Relations Board, which took place when the Senate was not actually in recess.

"President Obama’s recent appointments to the National Labor Relations Board are unfair and unconstitutional," the petition, which comes from the Workforce Fairness Institute, reads. "He must rescind them immediately."

Though WFI does not expect Obama to change his mind, they hope to collect at least 25,000 signatures to “raise some noise and raise the stakes on his turf.”

WFI - Justice Department Contradicts Itself On Recess Appointments

Washington, D.C. (January 12, 2011)  – The Workforce Fairness Institute (WFI) today released the following statement in response to the Department of Justice’s (DoJ) Office of Legal Counsel releasing an opinion backing the legality of President Obama’s  recess appointments in spite of the fact that very same office previously disputed the finding as did Obama’s solicitor general office:

 

“The lengths President Obama will go to payback Big Labor appear limitless.  First, he recess appoints Richard Griffin and Sharon Block to the National Labor Relations Board without giving the Senate any time whatsoever to conduct its Constitutional responsibility to advise and consent, and next, his Justice Department issues a legal opinion which disputes previous findings from that very same office,” said Fred Wszolek, spokesperson for the Workforce Fairness Institute (WFI).  “And to make matters worse for the White House, its own deputy solicitor general argued before the  U.S. Supreme Court against the legality of the kind of recess appointments made by this president.  President Obama has lost all credibility on the issue of nominations and recess appointments and his handling of this issue has demonstrated beyond any reasonable doubt that he is more concerned with carrying the water of union bosses than adhering to the Constitution and turning around the economy.”

 

 

BACKGROUND:

 

“Justice Department Backs Legality Of Obama Appointments”:

 

“President Barack Obama was within his constitutional authority to make recess appointments to two agencies even though the U.S. Senate was holding periodic pro forma sessions, Justice Department lawyers said in a legal opinion released on Thursday.  The department’s Office of Legal Counsel said that the only way the Senate could block such appointments is by ‘remaining continuously in session’ rather than the pro forma sessions ‘at which no business is to be conducted.’  Obama last week used his constitutional power to install a new chief at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, along with three members of the National Labor Relations Board.” (“Justice Department Backs Legality Of Obama Appointments,” Reuters, 1/12/12)

 

Clinton Office Of Legal Counsel “Said The President Had The Power To Make Recess Appointments When The Senate Was In Recess For More Than Three Days”:

 

“In a 1993 brief, the Office of Legal Counsel said the president had the power to make recess appointments when the Senate was in recess for more than three days.” (Victoria McGrane, “Republicans Press Justice Dept. On Recess Appointments,” The Wall Street Journal, 1/6/12)

 

“A December 2011 Congressional Research Service report notes that from the beginning of Ronald Reagan’s presidency to the end of George W. Bush’s, the shortest recess in which a president made an appointment was 10 days.  The report also references a 1993 Justice Department memorandum issued by then-Attorney General Janet Reno.  It implied that a recess of more than three days was needed before the president could issue an appointment.” (F. Vincent Vernuccio, “No Time For Advice And Consent,” The Washington Times, 1/6/12)

 

Obama Deputy Solicitor General Questions Legality Of Recess Appointments:

 

“When President Obama’s Department of Justice (DOJ) defends Obama’s ‘recess appointment’ – made today after the Senate adjourned yesterday – his lawyers will have to argue against the position they took on recess appointments last year, during a Supreme Court hearing.  Deputy Solicitor General Neal Katyal told Chief Justice John Roberts that ‘the [congressional] recess has to be longer than 3 days’ for the president to have the power to make a recess appointment, recalls House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, while criticizing Obama’s recess appointment of Richard Cordray to lead the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.” (Jowl Gehrke, “Obama's DOJ Says 'Recess' Appointment Illegal,” Washington Examiner, 1/4/12)

 

The Workforce Fairness Institute is an organization committed to educating voters, employers, employees and citizens about issues affecting the workplace. To learn more, please visit: http://www.workforcefairness.com.

ALG - Senator Ted Kennedy amicus brief opposing presidential recess appointments uncovered

Jan. 9, 2012, Fairfax, VA—Americans for Limited Government released this morning an Amicus Curiae brief by the late Senator Ted Kennedy from 2004 where he argued against the validity of the appointment of Judge William H. Pryor, Jr. to the federal bench in a recess appointment.

The discovery of the Kennedy legal brief is particularly significant in light of President Obama's appointment last week of Richard Cordray to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and Sharon Block, Terence Flynn, and Richard Griffin to the National Labor Relations Board.  Ironically, the NLRB "recess" appointment of Block was a staffer for Sen. Kennedy.

Bill Wilson, President of Americans for Limited Government points out, "Senator Kennedy vehemently objected to a presidential appointment that occurred while the Congress was in recess, Obama's appointments did not even occur during a recess and clearly violate the constitutional separation of powers provisions.  Kennedy must be spinning in his grave."

Article 2, Section 2 of the U.S. Constitution states, "He (the president) shall have power, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, to make treaties, provided two thirds of the Senators present concur; and he shall nominate, and by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, shall appoint ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls, judges of the Supreme Court, and all other officers of the United States, whose appointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and which shall be established by law."

The Constitution continues to deal with appointments during Senate recesses stating, "The President shall have power to fill up all vacancies that may happen during the recess of the Senate, by granting commissions which shall expire at the end of their next session."

"This last section is where Obama has run afoul of the Constitution, as even Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid  admits that the Senate was in session, when Obama circumvented the highest law of the United States to make his appointments," Wilson continued.

Reid kept the Senate in the exact pro-forma Senate sessions in 2007 to block President George W. Bush from making recess appointments.  Now, Reid is praising Obama's decision to break the very Constitution that both of them have sworn to uphold in their oaths of office.

It is anticipated that Obama's extra-constitutional appointments of Cordray, Green, Block and Fletcher will be challenged in the federal courts.  The only question is will someone file Senator Kennedy's brief to remind the courts just how far beyond the normal constitutional lines Obama has gone.

Attachments:

Sen. Ted Kennedy Amicus Brief filed in Stephens v. Evans and Jordan at http://netrightdaily.com/2012/01/former-senator-ted-kennedy-opposed-recess-appointments/ .

Interview Availability: Please contact Rebekah Rast at (703) 383-0880 or at rrast@getliberty.org to arrange an interview with ALG President Bill Wilson.

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Americans for Limited Government is a non-partisan, nationwide network committed to advancing free market reforms, private property rights and core American liberties. For more information on ALG please call us at 703-383-0880 or visit our website at www.GetLiberty.org.

ALG Releases Report on 2 NLRB 'Recess' Appointments, Calls Board a 'Rogue Agency'

"Obama will be remembered as the recess president who accomplished nothing because he was too busy violating the Constitution."—ALG President Bill Wilson.

Jan. 5, 2012, Fairfax, VA—Americans for Limited Government (ALG) today released a report on the two Democrat "recess" appointees to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) Richard Griffin and Sharon Block that were installed by Barack Obama when Congress was not even on a recess.

"The NLRB is now a rogue agency, and every act it undertakes this year will become challengeable in federal court as to whether valid appointments were ever made," ALG President Bill Wilson said.

The report details the experiences of the two nominees, Griffin and Block, who Wilson said Obama has risked a constitutional crisis over. 

"Block once argued on behalf of the NLRB's decision to award back pay to an illegal immigrant, an argument that was eventually rejected by the Supreme Court.  And Griffin comes from the corruption-prone International Union of Operating Engineers that fought against open and fair union elections," Wilson said.

"These nominees were only submitted to the Senate by Obama on December 15," ALG President Bill Wilson noted.  "There has not even been time to hold a hearing in the Senate, let alone vote on them, and yet Obama wants to claim his extraconstitutional 'recess' appointments were based on some sort of extraordinary delay."

Industry groups affected by NLRB regulations are expected to sue in federal court to overturn the appointments and any new regulations the Board issues.

"Obama and Reid have thrown out the 'advice and consent' clause of the Constitution so that union organizers can hang posters on their boss' door during a union election," Wilson joked, concluding, "And to what end? When all is said and done, the courts will nullify these appointments and their acts, meanwhile Obama will be remembered as the recess president who accomplished nothing because he was too busy violating the Constitution."

Attachments:

"ALG Nominee Alert, Richard Griffin and Sharon Block, National Labor Relations Board," Americans for Limited Government Research Foundation, Dec. 2011 at http://www.getliberty.org/files/Sharon Block  Richard Griffin NomineeAlert HighRes 12 30.pdf.

"Obama's Radical Non-Recess 'Recess' Appointments," ALG President Bill Wilson, Jan. 5, 2012 at http://netrightdaily.com/2012/01/obama%e2%80%99s-radical-non-recess-%e2%80%98recess%e2%80%99-appointments/.

"Cartoon: Obama's New Year's Resolution," William Warren, Jan. 5, 2012 at http://netrightdaily.com/2012/01/obamas-new-years-resolution/.

ALG Urges Passage of Bill Repealing NLRB Adjudicatory Powers in Light of Unconstitutional Appointments

Jan. 5, 2012, Fairfax, VA—Americans for Limited Government (ALG) President Bill Wilson today in the following statement urged the House to pass HR 2978 stripping the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) of its quasi-judicial powers in light of Barack Obama's extraconstitutional installation of 3 new members to the Board:

"If the House wishes to prevent the NLRB from issuing rulings when it has been unconstitutionally filled with phony recess appointments, it needs to act immediately.  Legislation by Rep. Austin Scott would strip the Board of all its judicial and rulemaking authority, making federal courts the sole arbiter of alleged infractions of labor law. 

"Big labor advocates masquerading as bureaucrats should never have so much power in the first place to issue these anti-business rulings, and Rep. Scott's legislation is the only bill that will do anything about it.

"While federal courts sort out the unconstitutionality of Obama's lawless actions to fill the NLRB with union cronies, the House can act immediately to pass legislation that will defang the Board from issuing any more rulings on behalf of big labor."

Attachments:

"Treating the NLRB symptoms not enough," by ALG President Bill Wilson, September 21^st, 2011 at http://netrightdaily.com/2011/09/treating-the-nlrb-symptoms-not-enough/ .

the polling company™, inc./WomanTrend poll on behalf of Americans for Limited Government regarding National Labor Relations Board, Aug. 19-23, 2011 at www.getliberty.org/files/NLRBPoll8-19to8-23-11.pdf .

"ALG Nominee Alert, Richard Griffin and Sharon Block, National Labor Relations Board," Americans for Limited Government Research Foundation, Dec. 2011 at http://www.getliberty.org/files/Sharon Block  Richard Griffin NomineeAlert HighRes 12 30.pdf .

"Obama's Radical Non-Recess 'Recess' Appointments," ALG President Bill Wilson, Jan. 5, 2012 at http://netrightdaily.com/2012/01/obama%e2%80%99s-radical-non-recess-%e2%80%98recess%e2%80%99-appointments/ .

"Cartoon: Obama's New Year's Resolution," William Warren, Jan. 5, 2012 at http://netrightdaily.com/2012/01/obamas-new-years-resolution/ .

Interview Availability: Please contact Rebekah Rast at (703) 383-0880 or at rrast@getliberty.org to arrange an interview with ALG President Bill Wilson.