Republicans Join Challenge of Recess Appointments
There’s some interesting dynamics and telltales by looking at which GOP Senators didn’t join.
Hill Republicans maintain Congress was not in recess when Obama made the so-called recess appointments on Jan. 4. But the Obama administration argued otherwise.The Senate had been in a series of brief, pro forma sessions, and the Justice Department concluded that the Senate was not actually not in session and thus Obama could make a recess appointment.
Republican senators who did not join in are Scott Brown of Massachusetts, Thad Cochran of Mississippi, Dean Heller of Nevada, Mark Kirk of Illinois, Jeff Sessions of Alabama, Richard Shelby of Alabama, Olympia Snowe of Maine and Roger Wicker of Mississippi.
Shelby is the top Republican on the Senate Banking Committee, where Cordray testified earlier this week. During the hearing, Shelby said he believed the Supreme Court would ultimately decide whether Obama’s appointments were constitutional.
Brown is in a tight reelection battle, and his likely challenger is Elizabeth Warren, the original architect of the consumer agency. Brown supported Obama’s appointment of Cordray, saying around the time of the appointment that while he preferred the normal confirmation process, “unfortunately the system is completely broken.”