President Obama is taking some heat over 15 recess appointments he made this weekend.
What is a recess appointment? Before answering that, it is important to understand what a recess is. From a legislative perspective, a recess is a temporary break in a Congressional (Senate or House of Representative’s) session for a short period of time within the same day. Also, the Senate often recesses overnight rather than adjourning at the end of the day. In the context of recess appointments however, recess typically refers to longer breaks over several days, such as holiday periods. Congress is currently in what is popularly known as the “Easter Recess”, which is a combination “State Work Period” and holiday period.
A recess appointment is simply the appointment of a senior government official, made by the President, while the Senate is in recess. The US Constitution requires that many senior officials be confirmed by the Senate after being nominated by the President and before assuming office. However while the Senate is in recess, the President can make a recess appointment and bypass the Senate. The position will become vacant again if the Senate fails to approve the appointment by the end of the next session of Congress. For example, if the appointment is made in the first year of a session of Congress, then the recess appointment must be approved by roughly the end of the next calendar year or else the official will be forced to resign and the position will become vacant again.
Article II, Section 2 of the U.S. Constitution authorizes recess appointments and states as follows:
The President shall have Power to fill up all Vacancies that may happen during the Recess of the Senate, by granting Commissions which shall expire at the End of their next Session.
It is clear that Presidents have the power to make recess appointments, less clear is the impact these have on relations between the legislative and executive branches of government. They create bad will to be sure, and both parties use them to circumvent the normal process. That process is at the root of the controversy though. As Washington becomes more partisan, many normal processes are grinding to halt, but the business of government goes on and there must be officials in place to make it function well.
In making the recess appointments, President Obama said he “simply cannot allow partisan politics to stand in the way of the basic functioning of government.” However, Republicans have countered that some of the nominees had not yet been reported from committee, faced nonpartisan questions about their qualifications, or were already voted on by the full Senate.
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