Presidents have been making recess appointments for a long time. Reagan and Bush, Clinton and Obama....all of them have made these sort of appointments. I think it’s a good thing if the SC takes a look at this issue.
Under the Constitution, the President and the Senate share the power to make appointments to the highest-level politically appointed positions in the federal government. The Constitution also empowers the President unilaterally to make a temporary appointment to such a position if it is vacant and the Senate is in recess. Such an appointment, termed a recess appointment, expires at the end of the following session of the Senate.
As of October 31, 2008, President Bush had made 171 recess appointments.President William J. Clinton, in comparison, made a total of 139 recess appointments during the course of his presidency. Of President Bush’s 171 recess appointments, 99 were to full-time positions, and the remaining 72 were to part-time positions. Thirty were made during recesses between Congresses or between sessions of
Congress (intersession recess appointments). The remaining 141 were made during recesses within sessions of Congress (intrasession recess appointments).
Bush ranks fourth among modern presidents in granting such appointments, bypassing the Senate 165 times to get his nominees in place, according to the Senate historian’s office. Ronald Reagan holds the record with 243 appointments.
The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling got it right, in my view and I believe SCOTUS will uphold the lower courts finding if they accept the case.