Political Quotes

“today, a unanimous Supreme Court ruled against the President's unconstitutional recess appointments in a dramatic repudiation of the White House's position. Nine to zero they ruled. It was an obvious decision, in my opinion. It was breathtaking that the President of the United States would appoint members to the National Labor Relations Board who have to come before the Senate for confirmation under the Constitution--we have the advice and consent authority--and he did not want to do that, so he just appointed them and claimed we were in recess. We were not in recess. It was not a close question. He just did it. So it took over 2 years of a lawsuit, and finally the Supreme Court has now ruled. A lower court ruled against the President some months ago. The President clearly and deliberately violated article II of the Constitution in circumventing the advice and consent clause. At the time of these appointments, the Senate had determined it was not in recess. We determined we were not in recess, and the Court affirmed that determination. The question of whether the Senate is in session is up to the Senate, not the President. So the President has to yield to the Senate's authority to determine its own rules and procedures. This is basic law, it seems to me. Unfortunately, the President has made it clear that he will only follow the letter of the law when it is not an impediment to whatever agenda he has at the time.…”