The unprecedented actions taken by President Obama to “recess” appoint his liberal nominees showed a new level of abuse of power by his imperial presidency. Never before has a politician campaigned in such a dramatically different way than he has governed. The American people were sold a false bill of goods in 2008 and President Obama has continuously abused his executive powers.
Eric Allie / Cagle Cartoons (click to view more cartoons by Allie)
With the “recess” appointment of Richard Cordray as Director of the newly-formed Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, President Obama installed an anti-business candidate who will no doubt mold a liberal ideology into the new agency. On the same day as the Cordray appointment, President Obama delved back into his bag of tricks and “recess” appointed three union drones to the National Labor Relations Board. Two of those appointed were only nominated two days before the United States Senate was supposed to adjourn before the holiday recess.
The United States Senate was not in recess. It never adjourned over the holiday recess and was instead in a pro-forma session. Congress actually did some business in pro-forma session when it punted the payroll tax cut debate into 2012. President Obama’s rational for appointing Mr. Cordray outside his own administration’s definition of a recess was that he has “an obligation to act on behalf of the American people.” Hogwash! President Obama stripped the Senate of its duty to act on behalf of the American people in examining and consenting to the president’s nominees. The founding fathers created our republic with a system of checks and balances to prevent such abuses of power. Time and again President Obama has run roughshod over Congress and ramming these unvetted, unaccountable picks through is a new low.
Thankfully, Louisiana Congressman Jeff Landry will soon be introducing important legislation that will rein in the imperial presidency of Barack Obama. The Executive Appointment Reform Act will bring back the checks and balances sorely missed during Obama’s years in the White House. This bold piece of legislation will prevent all regulations coming from the anti-business Consumer Financial Protection Bureau from becoming final until the Director has been confirmed by the United States Senate. The Landry legislation would also bar the National Labor Relations Board from having a quorum until its members are confirmed by the United States Senate. Finally, the Landry legislation will end payment to recess appointed individuals and put limitations on an appointee’s ability to perform voluntary or gratuitous service.
The point of the Landry legislation is to reverse the Constitutional damage President Obama has done with these unprecedented “recess” appointments. President Obama has overstepped his executive authority and will continue to do so until he is stopped. President Obama has thrived on power grabs, whether it is taking over the healthcare industry with Obamacare or the financial industry with Dodd-Frank. If President Obama orchestrates these purely partisan appointments now, in an election season, imagine what he’ll do during the lame duck session at the end of the year, or a second term when he doesn’t have to worry about his own reelection.
Congressmen like Louisiana’s Jeff Landry need to stand up in the face of President Obama’s imperial presidency now, before it is too late.
