On Wednesday, President Obama infuriated Republi- cans and threatened to spark a constitutional crisis when he announced he would make four recess appointments dur- ing a "pro forma" session of Congress. A pro forma session occurs when Congress "gavels in and gavels out" every three days but is not technically on recess. The fact that the president recess-appointed four nominees absent an actual recess is outrageous in itself and has drawn well- deserved condemnation. But also troubling is the way in which he made two appointments to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).
[...] any lame duck president is unlikely to enjoy the cache to press forward with large numbers of nominees when the Senate is controlled by the opposition party hopeful of winning the presidency in the upcoming election and enjoying its judicial spoils. The level of distrust between Senate Democrats and the Bush White House escalated to the point that during the 110th Congress, the Senate refused to recess lest the President make recess appoinunents. [...] the Senate was in continuous pro forma session over the major holidays and the customary August recess.
The earthquake Tuesday didn't stop the Senate, which made political history after the temblor shook Washington and sent lawmakers scrambling to hold a pro forma session outside the Capitol for the first time in recent memory. At 3:30 p.m. the Senate complete with an official seal and a gavel was transferred to a nondescript conference room in the basement of the Postal Square Building, less than half a mile from the Capitol and across the street from Union Station.
WASHINGTON - Shaking ground and swaying buildings sent panicked people rushing for exits, pouring into streets or diving under desks. For some in Washington and New York and elsewhere along the East Coast, their first thoughts turned to terrorism - not nature. Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., was walking up Capitol Hill on his way to preside over a pro-forma session of the Senate when Tuesday's earthquake hit. Feeling the ground sway, he sat down on a bench.
seconds of nothingness SEN. JIM WEBB SPENT his Christmas recess sneaking into an empty Senate chamber to gavel unoccupied chairs to order (news, Dec. 27). The agenda was blank during this unattended pro forma session. The Virginia senator oversaw nothing for nine seconds before adjourning vacant desks.
House Democrats tried Wednesday to force a vote on the Senate's two-month extension of the payroll-tax cut, but Republicans gaveled the House closed to prevent them from having a chance, as top GOP leaders huddled down the hall to try to figure a way out of the impasse. There was no resolution in sight, even after President Obama made midday phone calls to House Speaker John A. Boehner and Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid seeking a compromise. The depth of the divide was on display on Capitol Hill earlier in the day, when the House was set to hold a pro forma session.
Richard Cordray started his new job on Thursday as director of the Consumer Fi- nancial Protection Bureau (CFPB). Though he may wear that fancy new title, he lacks the statutory power and constitutional authority of the office. On Wednesday, after the Senate adjourned for one day, President Obama unilaterally installed Mr. Cordray to the CFPB and added three members to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), claiming these were "recess appointments" even though the Senate was in pro-forma session, not recess. In his first speech, Mr. Cordray insisted his appointment was "valid" and "now, for the first time, we can exercise the full authorities granted to us under the new law." He said at the Brookings Institution he was immediately "launching the bureau's program for supervising nonb...
WASHINGTON The House was quiet as a mouse the day after Christmas. But across the Capitol, the Senate was operating in an unusually efficient manner in its ongoing power struggle with President Bush. A nine-second session gaveled in and out by Sen. Jim Webb, D- Va., prevented Bush from appointing as an assistant attorney general a nominee roundly rejected by majority Democrats. Without the pro forma session, the Senate would be technically adjourned, allowing the president to install officials without Senate confirmation.
President Barack Obama on Wednesday used his recess appointment authority to name Richard Cordray to head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The president also appointed three people to fill vacancies on the National Labor Relations Board. Republicans are furious. The GOP blocked votes on the president's nominees for these positions in the Senate. They have even forced the Senate to meet for so-called pro forma sessions every few days. That, they argue, means the Senate is still in session, not at recess. No recess; no recess appointments.
WASHINGTON -- The House was quiet as a mouse the day after Christmas. But across the Capitol, the Senate was operating in an unusually efficient manner in its ongoing power struggle with President Bush. A nine-second session gaveled in and out by Sen. Jim Webb, D- Va., prevented Bush from appointing as an assistant attorney general a nominee roundly rejected by majority Democrats. Without the pro forma session, the Senate would be technically adjourned, allowing the president to install officials without Senate confirmation.
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