10 things you need to know today: January 26, 2013

A court rules recess appointments unconstitutional, new home sales decline, and more in our roundup of the stories that are making news and driving opinion

President Obama has appointed McDonough to replace Lew to be the new White House chief of staff.
(Image credit: Alex Wong/Getty Images)

1. COURT: OBAMA'S RECESS APPOINTMENTS ARE UNCONSTITUTIONAL

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. circuit ruled on Friday that President Obama's bypassing of the Senate to fill vacancies on a labor relations panel last year was unconstitutional. The unanimous decision is considered an embarrassing setback for the president, who made the recess appointments after months of sparring with Senate Republicans, who repeatedly blocked his appointments. The ruling is likely to have lasting negative effects for the Obama administration, as it's likely that it could invalidate all the rulings the National Labor Relations Board has made since the appointments, and could also call into question the recess appointment of Richard Cordray to the Consumer Financial Protections Bureau. [CBS News]

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us
Samantha Rollins

Samantha Rollins is TheWeek.com's news editor. She has previously worked for The New York Times and TIME and is a graduate of Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism.