Partisan appointment obstruction has found a federal court forum. Congressional Republicans used every possible procedural gimmick to block National Labor Relations Board appointments during President Obama’s first term. The goal was nullification; extinguish the agency’s legal authority. Similar obstructionist schemes hobbled executive departments and other regulatory agencies and kept many judgeships vacant.
A new low was reached in 2011, when the House majority withheld adjournment consent in order to keep the Senate in pro forma sessions every three days. The sham scheduling was meant to limit executive recess-appointment authority. Obama called the partisans’ bluff on January 4, 2012, by signing recess commissions to resurrect the NLRB’s quorum. In response, partisans made good on their pledge to redouble obstruction throughout the election year.
