Senate Republicans File Amicus Brief in Suit Over Unconstitutional Recess Appointments
Wednesday, September 26, 2012Joe Brenckle 202-224-2465
The President’s decision to circumvent the American people by installing his appointees at a powerful federal agency while the Senate was continuing to hold sessions, and without obtaining the advice and consent of the Senate, is an unprecedented power grab,” Sen. McConnell said. “We will demonstrate to the Court how the President’s unconstitutional actions fundamentally endanger the Congress’s role in providing a check on the excesses of the executive branch.’
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell announced today that he and 41 of his Senate colleagues filed an amicus brief in a challenge (Noel Canning v. NLRB) to the constitutionality of President Obama’s so-called “recess” appointments to the National Labor Relations Board in January. The case is pending in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.
The suit is being brought by Noel Canning, a local, family-owned business in Washington State that bottles and distributes soft drinks. The company is challenging the NLRB’s determination that it must enter into a collective bargaining agreement with a labor union.
“The President’s decision to circumvent the American people by installing his appointees at a powerful federal agency while the Senate was continuing to hold sessions, and without obtaining the advice and consent of the Senate, is an unprecedented power grab,” Sen. McConnell said. “We will demonstrate to the Court how the President’s unconstitutional actions fundamentally endanger the Congress’s role in providing a check on the excesses of the executive branch.”
The 42 Senate Republicans retained former Assistant to the Solicitor General Miguel Estrada to file the amicus brief. Mr. Estrada is a partner in the Washington, D.C., office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher and serves as Co-Chair of the firm's Appellate and Constitutional Law Practice Group.
####
Recent News
- Probe by Tennessee Senators, Representatives Finds 30 of 98 Medicare Suppliers in Tennessee Not Licensed by State [Ranking Member]
- Health Committee Republicans Request Details on FDA’s Promotion of the New Health Care Law [Ranking Member]
- Alexander Delivers Weekly Republican Address [Ranking Member]
- Alexander Cosponsors Bill to Protect Workers and Employers from NLRB Decision that Will “Destroy Jobs and Divide Workplaces” [Ranking Member]
- Alexander: Under New Law, “Farmers Will Get Faster Access to Cheaper and Better Animal Medicines, and People Will Be Healthier” [Ranking Member]
- Harkin Statement on Committee Passage of the Strengthening America's Schools Act [Chairman]
