"President Obama’s extraordinary ‘recess appointments’ circumvents the American people and harms the economy. The appointment of Richard Cordray to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is an assault on the U.S. Constitution and an unprecedented abuse of executive power. Attempting to make a ‘recess appointment’ when the Senate is not even in recess epitomizes unaccountable Washington politics."
On the other hand, Nancy Pelosi complained in 2005 when George W. Bush made a recess appointment of John Bolton to be the U.N. Ambassador:
“For President Bush to use a recess appointment for such a controversial nominee not because there was a compelling case that Mr. Bolton was the best person for the job, but merely because the President had the power to do it subverts the confirmation process in ways that will further harm the United States’ reputation in the eyes of the international community. The American people deserve better.” - Nicholas Ballasy, The Daily Caller, 2012-01-06, http://news.yahoo.com/pelosi-05-bush-recess-appointment-mistake-harms-u-211510801.html.
Now she calls Obama's appointment "bold".
First, back in the days when Congress didn't meet so often, recess appointments were necessary to keep the government functioning. This is in the Constitution:
"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." - Article II, Section 8.
Is the U.S. Senate in recess or not? According to the Senate Calendar, the Senate had a "pro forma session" on Jan. 3 that lasted less than a minute and another "pro forma session" today. I don't know how long today's session was, but I bet it didn't last into lunchtime.
I'm inclined to believe that the recess appointments of Bolton in 2005 and of Cordray in 2012 don't really turn on a question of law but of politics. "We don't like what you did and so we say you are violating the Constitution."
