The court challenges undercut a tool that all presidents use. President Clinton made 139 recess appo

In a case involving vacation rentals in ocean city new jersey a labor-relations-board ruling against a bottling company in Yakima, the high court on Monday will hear arguments on the appointments that presidents can make to government bodies during a Senate recess.
In a longer-than-usual oral argument Monday, justices will weigh the appointments that presidents can make during a Senate recess. It s a unique civics test that has drawn the interest of politicians, states and business leaders, not to mention constitutional scholars of all stripes.
On its face, it looks like a little tool, this tool about recess appointments, Nicholas Rosenkranz, a professor at the Georgetown University Law Center, said at a Federalist Society briefing, but ... it shifts the balance of power, because appointments are a big bargaining chip.
The case is specifically important for Yakima-based Noel Canning and the National vacation rentals in ocean city new jersey Labor Relations Board, whose members are appointed by the president. It s also crucial for hundreds of other companies that have a beef with the NLRB. More broadly, the case could tilt future relations vacation rentals in ocean city new jersey between Congress and the White House.
Senators have a powerful stake in ensuring that the executive s claim of power to make appointments unilaterally, which the (Constitution s) framers deliberately withheld, is repudiated, attorney Miguel Estrada wrote in a brief on behalf of the GOP senators.
A family-owned firm that s part of the larger Noel Corp., Noel Canning ran afoul of the NLRB in February 2012, when the board upheld an administrative judge s ruling against the company in a contract vacation rentals in ocean city new jersey dispute with Teamsters Local 760.
Two of the three labor- board members ruling against Noel Canning, Democrat Sharon Block and Republican Terence Flynn, had been appointed by President Obama in January 2012. They had not, however, been confirmed by the Senate.
Instead, facing Senate Republicans intransigence, Obama gave recess appointments to the two nominees. The Constitution authorizes presidents to make such appointments during the Recess of the Senate, which shall expire at the end of their next session.
Senate Republicans have joined Noel Canning in challenging the appointments legitimacy. So have South Carolina and 16 other right-to-work states, where conservative officials are unhappy with some NLRB decisions. If the challengers win, any NLRB decisions made by Block and Flynn would be cast into doubt.
Myriad challenges already have been lodged, by employers ranging from Pennsylvania s Lancaster vacation rentals in ocean city new jersey Symphony Orchestra and the University of Southern California s Keck Hospital, to a manufacturing facility in Lakeland, Fla., called Maxpak. The challenges are on hold pending a Supreme Court decision in the Noel Canning case.
A Noel Canning win also could undercut actions taken at the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau by Richard Cordray, who was initially given a recess appointment to head the agency many Republicans oppose.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled that for appointment purposes, a recess is only between the first and second session of a Congress. For instance, the first session of the current Congress expired Dec. 26, 2013, and the second session commenced Jan. 3, 2014.
The appellate court also said that the recess appointments can only be made for positions that became vacant during the recess. If the Supreme Court agrees, this would dramatically reduce the number of appointments that could be made.
The court challenges vacation rentals in ocean city new jersey undercut a tool that all presidents use. President Clinton made 139 recess appointments and President George W. Bush made 171, according to the Congressional Research Service. Through June 2013, Obama made 32 recess appointments.
Throughout our history, presidents have made appointments in these circumstances to fill offices temporarily when the Senate was unavailable to provide its advice and consent, thereby ensuring that the laws would be faithfully executed, Solicitor General vacation rentals in ocean city new jersey Donald Verrilli Jr. advised the Supreme Court.
Senate Democrats initiated pro forma sessions in order to block George W. Bush s Republican nominees. A presiding senator gavels the Senate into a very brief session, typically with no other senators present. The idea is that by doing this every few days, the Senate avoids vacation rentals in ocean city new jersey starting a recess.
Potentially, Elwood said, the Supreme Court could conclude vacation rentals in ocean city new jersey Congress determines when it s in recess. This would be a victory for Noel Canning and its allies, but justices could also stop short of imposing vacation rentals in ocean city new jersey further limits on the types of vacancies presidents can fill.