We’ve always said that it’s odd for a President who used to be a Constitutional law professor to outright defy the Constitution. It sounds like we’re not the only ones.
Jonathan Turley, a nationally recognized legal scholar at the George Washington University in Washington, D.C. believes the Obama Administration created an “extreme” slippery slope by pushing its recess appointments to the National Labor Relations Board. Turley writes in a recent USA Today column that the brazen move “dangerously tips the balance of power.” He adds:
“[F]or the Constitution that political point comes at too high a price. Replacing an intransigent Congress with an imperial president is no bargain for those who value our constitutional system. While there can be debate over the precise meaning of Article II’s reference to ‘vacancies that may happen during the recess,’ it was not intended to mean this.”
Turley joins a chorus of critics – on both sides of the partisan aisle – that have grown increasingly nervous about the future implications of President Obama’s illegitimate recess appointments. What’s more is that Turley actually expressed support for Richard Cordray, the controversial head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau who was also a recent Obama recess appointments. However, Turley takes exception with the way Cordray was forced into his position:
“For the record, I support Cordray, a well-qualified nominee who has been treated poorly by the political system. However, in a nation committed to the rule of law, it is often as important how you do something as what you do. This is not the way to win a fight with Congress over a nomination.”
To have Turley write such a stinging rebuke of the president’s undemocratic recess appointments to the NLRB is very significant. It’s something that the White House should not ignore.