Obama’s Recess Appointments: Supreme Court To Hear Landmark Case, by Warren Richey, Christian Science Monitor

http://tinyurl.com/k2lb5cd

Who has the authority to decide when the Senate is officially in session, the president or senators themselves? The Supreme Court Monday will hear a case focusing on President Obama’s recess appointments.

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The case arises at a time of extreme partisan differences in Congress that have made it increasingly difficult for President Obama to fill vacant posts in his administration. Obstructionist tactics by Republicans are not new. The same tactics were used by Democrats – including then-Senator Obama – to block or delay appointments by President Bush.

But President Bush never sought to make recess appointments during pro forma Senate sessions. That action by President Obama marks a new level of executive defiance of the Senate.