The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D. C. Circuit ruled that President Obama violated the Constitution when he bypassed the Senate to fill vacancies on the National Labor Relations Board last year.

Obama claims he acted properly because the Senate was away for the holidays. But the court says the Senate technically stayed in session when lawmakers gaveled in and out every few days for so-called “pro forma” sessions.

GOP lawmakers used the tactic specifically to prevent Obama from using his recess power to fill vacancies in an agency they claimed was too pro-union. Source

I can hear a steady chorus of Republicans gloating and saying that he is also violating the Constitution on gun control. I may not agree with everything President Obama does, but it is clear that the Republicans do not want to work with him and have stone-walled repeatedly on appointments. The Obama administration is expected to appeal the court’s ruling.

This was cross-posted from The Hinterland Gazette.