Supreme Court frowns on recess appointments

The Supreme Court this week hinted that it might limit the presidential practice of filling high-level posts during Senate recesses. During oral arguments, justices suggested that President Obama had exceeded constitutional limits when he made three unilateral appointments to the National Labor Relations Board during a brief Senate break in 2012. The White House claims those appointments were a last resort after Republicans blocked qualified nominees for political reasons, but Justice Elena Kagan implied that the practice—which was adopted during the republic’s early days to keep the government running—had been abused by both parties in recent decades. “This is not the horse-and-buggy era anymore,” she said.

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