“Will be interesting to see if Mitch calls back the Senate and Ryan calls back House.”
The confirmation process has NOTHING to do with the House!
“Will be interesting to see if Mitch calls back the Senate and Ryan calls back House.â€
The confirmation process has NOTHING to do with the House!
Uh, actually it does. Recess Appointment is the subject of the article, and I have to ask: Did you read the article or just post: NOTHING to do with the House!
To make it simple, here is some of the article~please note the references to the HOUSE:
In short: BOTH BODIES of Congress are operating in the perfect parliamentary status in which a recess appointment would be applicable. The last such appointment to the high court came by President Eisenhower in 1956 when he appointed William Brennan.
Article II, Section 2 of the Constitution states that “The President shall have Power to fill up all Vacancies that may happen during the Recess of the Senate.”
This could be the window of time in which Obama has his chance to maneuver a recess appointment to the high court.
Article I, Section 5 of the Constitution states “NEITHER HOUSE, during the Session of Congress, shall, without the Consent of the other, adjourn for more than three days, nor to any other Place than that in which the TWO HOUSES shall be sitting.”
That means that so long as both the HOUSE and Senate haven’t jointly agreed to “adjourn” for a stretch longer than three days, then there appears to be no way the president could make a recess appointment.
But the HOUSE and Senate are not operating under those circumstances right now. BOTH BODIES of have adjourned until later this month for the President’s Day recess.
The Senate last met on Thursday. When doing so, it approved a
“conditional adjournment resolution” for the Senate not to meet again until Monday, Feb. 22. The HOUSE met on Friday and at the close of business adopted the same adjournment resolution to get in sync with the Senate. The HOUSE is out until Tuesday, Feb. 23.
So, the HOUSE and Senate will not be meeting in the coming days. This is an adjournment and is not challengeable in court the way the NLRB recess appointments were because both bodies have agreed with each other to adjourn.
This is a true recess and an opportunity for the president should he elect to take it — considering the political realities of the Senate and the position of its majority leader to potentially make a recess appointment.
Keep in mind that this window will close later this month. Then GOP-led House and Senate can effectively block the president with another recess appointment gambit in the future by agreeing to meet every three days, ....