The U.S. Department of Justice has released a legal opinion saying that President Obama’s recess appointments to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the NLRB are constitutional. Read the opinion here.
The conclusion reads:
In our judgment, the text of the Constitution and precedent and practice thereunder support the conclusion that the convening of periodic pro forma sessions in which no business is to be conducted does not have the legal effect of interrupting an intrasession recess otherwise long enough to qualify as a “Recess of the Senate” under the Recess Appointments Clause. In this context, the President therefore has discretion to conclude that the Senate is unavailable to perform its advise-and-consent function and to exercise his power to make recess appointments.
