“It’s astounding to me that the president is claiming these are recess appointments and within his authority, when Congress was not in fact in recess,” Black said. “These appointments are an affront to the Constitution. No matter how you look at this, it doesn’t pass the smell test. I hope the House considers my resolution as soon as we return to Washington so we can send a message to President Obama.”She continued:
"What’s more, the NLRB appointments were jammed through by the president before the Senate even had the chance to consider the appointees. Their names were only put forward on Dec. 15, a mere two days before the Senate recessed for the holiday. The president is clearly out of bounds here and should not be allowed to skirt the Constitution as he pleases."Oh -- in case you're wondering whether maybe Roll Call botched the quotes...no, they're taken directly from Black's press release. So we're to believe that it's outrageous for the president to call what's happening now a recess, and the House intends to take it up as soon as they get back into town after recessing for the holiday.
Well then. Case closed?
I support the recess appointments, but your argument here isn't quite on point. The issue is not whether the House were in recess; they don't have advice and consent power. The issue is whether the Senate were in recess ... and they were.
ReplyDeletesenate can't recess for more than 3 days without the house's permission (per the constitution, doncha know). and the house hasn't given the senate permission to recess. so they aren't in recess.
ReplyDeleteUm, the second quote is clearly about the SENATE being in recess starting two days after 12/15.
ReplyDeleteBTW, if you're going to title a blog post "Best ___ Ever", it really needs to be "Best. _____. Ever!" I know, you're not really a Simpsons guy, but that's just a reference that has to be made.
ReplyDeleteSenate is in recess when proceedings are interrupted. See http://www.senate.gov/reference/glossary_term/recess.htm
ReplyDeleteDoes it make actual sense to consider the Senate to be "in proceedings" if they cannot gather a quorum?
The only reason the Senate wouldn't be in recess is that the House refused to let them go into recess, by not going into recess themselves. By stating that the House was actually in recess, she was undermining the only plausible argument that the Senate wasn't.
ReplyDeleteSo, you win the CotD? Well deserved, a great find. Very enjoyable.
ReplyDeleteI'm leaving this open another day or two: this is your big chance to win a coveted Plain Blog "Catch of the Day." Well, at least a share of one. All you have to do is find examples of Republicans calling what Congress is up to now "recess."
ReplyDeleteLet me be the first to say: Winner winner, chicken dinner!
Best. Self-awarded. CotD. Evar.
*shakes fist at ModeratePoli*
ReplyDeleteWhy? What did I do wrong?
DeleteMatt Jarvis, can you explain? I've been vaguely annoyed for years by sentences or phrases w/ a period after each word -- did the Simpsons start this?
ReplyDeleteI never imagined that a Republican would be dumb enough to call it a recess after the Cordray appointment. That's what I get for limiting my search to pre-Cordray.
ReplyDeleteThere's still time for more!
ReplyDeleteASP - I'm not sure if Simpsons was the start of it, but I think it's fair to say it was popularized on that show. But only in the context of "Worst/Best. (blank). Ever.".
ReplyDeleteIf. People. Do. It. Otherwise. That's. Not. From. The Simpsons.
Specifically, the "Comic Book Guy" character is the one on The Simpsons who says the expression if you want to YouTube for an example.