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The Justice Department concluded in a Jan. 6 memo to the White House counsel that the Senate's "pro forma" sessions don't actually interrupt a congressional recess.
Because they don't, the president was entitled to exercise his constitutional power to make recess appointments, the department concluded.
President Obama used that authority last week to name Richard Cordray director of the newly formed Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. He also made additional recess appointments to the National Labor Relations Board.
"The Senate could remove the basis for the president's exercise of his recess appointment authority by remaining continuously in session and being available to receive and act on nominations, but it cannot do so by providing for pro forma sessions at which no business is to be conducted," says a memo from DOJ's Office of Legal Counsel.
The memo was released today in response to calls for a fuller explanation of the legal basis on which the White House acted.
The question, the Justice Department says, is a practical one: During these pro forma sessions, is the Senate actually able to provide advice and consent to nominations? Obviously not, the memo says, which makes them a "recess" in name only, and not in substance.
Even so, it says, "the question is a novel one, and the substantial arguments on each side create some litigation risk for such appointments."
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I hope this goes to the Supreme Court. The Separation of Powers needs to be reviewed every once in a while.
The Justice Department...you mean those same collection of thugs that replaced our Constitution with the Patriot Act and said that waterboarding and Guantanamo should be US policy forever?
actually congress did that. the justice department only refines or rather explains the laws congress put out. secondly less agencies is why our country is in trouble now so hmmm that did not work under bush and his watch. most of you really need to think of your reponses before you just throw them out there. This is starting to seem like a country of idiots. a people who do not understand the government they elected in 2008 and again in 2010.
Congress has there power while they are in session. if they sit for months on a nomination then i would do as the president did. make a appointment while they are in recess. This wont go to court because congress knows the law or should know it. congress also must sue the united states in lower court. that wont happen due to congress liability. congress would be found in contempt of holding up appointments of which the president has the power to appoint and congress must agree or disagree to such appointments.
be careful people. you dont want to see a show down of this. congress would loose and loose big time. to obstruct the governments business is unlawful and to make a law and then delay its enactment is also unlawful. the recess appointments will stand and the repubs have learned, next time house of reps, dont say you are in session when you are not.
Many of you should understand the laws of the land before you actually sit there and critize the president for being a leader and making the call.
hahaha talk about putting the facts in your face. obama hears everyone and states he wants to shrink government and make it have sense and you all find some way to make this bad.
For the jobs well not many need to be let go. its simple when you have one major agency with all its applications in one jar you can find things faster. next you have less congressional oversight committies which are a waste of time. less paper work and more actual work getting done. less money going down the drain. hmmm. he said to combine not illiminate these agencies. jess, like a rupub bitter to the end in hate and even a good idea, a tea party idea is snumbed and thought to be corrupt.
The gun-running, too with Mr. Holder? Does the DOJ back that as well?
I've never seen an entire DOJ filled with such strenuous corruption - almost as though it was something to achieve to be at a higher degree of corruption than any other nation.
Sad.
Correct Mackie and you are not seeing corruption now, unless it's in the GOP.
And if Prez O's Justice Department staffers didn't approve whole-heartedly with everything their boss Prez O did and said and wanted done, well then those poor little Justice Department staffers would be looking for a new job. Duuhh
The fox watching the hen house. Really objective decision. Same guys who let the Black Panthers off in Philly and guns walk to Mexico.
This is a big shock.....NOT.......just another example of Holder and Obama blowing each other.
The real acid test should come from the Supreme Court, not Eric Holder. Did Obama violate the constitution or not?? That's all.
I have been reading all of your posts and i am confused I thought we all had a reason to be working together to get the gov. to be for the people which is all of us but instead we have these petty arguments that allow them to get away with only looking out for themselves and their cronies which aint YOU
What did the people that elected him expected from the m@nchimp and g@y dingy Hariy in steroids.
Gee,this from the same folks who refused to prosecute the 2 Black Panthers who kept white voters away from a polling place in Philadelphia in Nov,2008.Sort of like having Martin Bormann ok Hitlers use of Zylon B gas to kill people in Concentration Camps.Illegal is illegal no matter how you spin it.
so use of this tactice is only right when republicans do it? LMAO
Where's the news?
Racists Justice dept endorses Racist president
Dog bites man news.
Transparency let’s make a deal
Our President promised to run the most transparent White House in history.
"Transparency and the rule of law will be the touchstones of this Presidency"
When they go behind closed doors this is a disservice to the people of America.
Some of you claim that we don’t need to know everything that goes on (head in the sand) however
Unless it is a matter of national security I believe it is all of our business, remember they work for us.
Deals made in seclusion are lies of omission. The kind of language used in private is wholly unacceptable, thus would not be permissible in a public setting. This in its self is dishonesty.
These politicians have forgotten or are deliberately ignoring who they work for since they are elected to represent the people. Some people claim we live in a democracy, a system of government based on the principle of majority decision-making i/e (mob rule). Our form of gov’t is a representative republic as set forth by our constitution.
President of the United States
I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.
The Senators and Representatives
I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter: So help me God.
let’s be clear, this country is in disarray, first off financially we are out of control and I mean we !!! Do in large part to gov't intrusion into the routine functioning of the private sector. I might add a system that has created a wonderful lifestyle attainable by all Americans that have the intestinal fortitude to just reach out and make it their own. Conversely they work for us we designated them to represent us. We are held accountable for what they do. i.e. Nearly 16 trillion dollars of indebtedness. If it is your goal to reverse this trend of economic wreck less abandon then you must be mindfully aware of who is delegated with the responsibility of responding to the needs of our nation.
Secondly our nation is not producing at full capability, there are too many people who are not gainfully employed this creates a culture of enslavement dependency when left to propagate to long. (This phenomenon in America affects the entire world economy). If you see yourself as a victim then that is what you will remain. Most people do well when they have the pride of ownership of their own lives.
Next up Sovereignty, are we a Nation governed by rule of law or not. Allowing felonious interlopers to infiltrate our country’s communities deprives us of our ability to remain a sovereign representative republic. This action leading to societal deterioration and decay allowing federal government to actively thwart our ability to remain thus is wholly unacceptable.
The key to our successful future lies in our commitment to freedom, individual liberty, and our nation’s first principles. Our founding principles are under attack. The time has come for Americans to stand up and demand that our government be held accountable to the Constitution For years, liberals have benefited from Americans’ limited knowledge of the Constitution—and now is the time to put a stop to it.
It’s time to remind ourselves and our fellow citizens that one of the surest ways to protect our freedoms is to restore respect for one of the most important documents ever written.
With our country’s persistent debt and imminent fiscal complications, there has been a great deal of discourse about the necessity for a Balanced Budget Amendment. It is imperative to amend the Constitution to make this the law of the land.
Liberals constantly allude to the phrase “separation of church and state” with their arduous insistence upon the removal of religious symbols from public war memorials or eradicating the Ten Commandments from government buildings. Nowhere in the Constitution will you see this phrase. Yet appear
This phrase does not appear anywhere in the Constitution, although the principle is evident in the text. The First Amendment states that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion.” Although the Framers supported the separation of church and state, they did not want to exclude all religious references from public life.
We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.