US president Barack Obama faced pincer threats to his executive powers as the supreme court rapped him for violating the US constitution by making a series of appointments two years ago and a senior Republican threatened to sue him if he bypassed Congress.
Ruling in favour of Senate Republicans in their long-running battle with the Democratic president, the court limited Mr Obama’s power to fill senior vacancies after finding that his appointments to the National Labour Relations Board in 2012 were illegal because he acted without the Senate’s approval while the chamber was on a brief break.
A day before the ruling, the Republican speaker of the House of Representatives, John Boehner, said he would introduce legislation next month allowing the Republican-controlled House to sue Mr Obama if he uses executive actions to circumvent Congress.
Overreach
The nation did not elect “a monarch or king”, Mr Boehner said, warning about what he sees as unconstitutional presidential overreach.
Mr Obama angered Republicans earlier this year when he warned them that he would use his “pen and phone” to bypass Congress and push through aspects of his second-term legislative agenda.
Like previous US leaders, the 44th US president has used his power to make temporary appointments by stepping around a Senate that has been slow to sign off on his nominees.
In a unanimous vote, the nine judges on the highest-ranking US court found that the Senate was not formally in recess when Mr Obama made his three recess appointments without its confirmation.
Senate recess
The president had argued that the Senate had been on an extended break when he made the appointments. In a separate five-to-four vote, the judges upheld the president’s right to make recess appointments during breaks of 11 days.
Republicans, who have 45 seats in the Senate, have in the past 18 months used their voting power to block routine appointments by Mr Obama, obstructing the regular functioning of courts and federal agencies.
The effect of the supreme court ruling will not be far-reaching during the current session of Congress since the Democrat-led Senate removed a long-standing filibuster rule that allowed minority Republicans to block confirmation of most of Mr Obama’s nominees.
The court’s ruling could have a more significant bearing next year if Democrats lose control of the Senate in November’s midterm congressional elections.
Appointment delays
This week White House press secretary Josh Earnest said there were 48 ambassadorial nominees pending Senate approval (including the nominee for Ireland, Kevin O’Malley) and 26 eligible to be confirmed by the full chamber, with the average delay being 262 days.
“These delays are simply unacceptable,” he said. “It’s time Republicans in the Senate ended their obstruction.”
