Obama & Recess Appointments Lose 9-0 at SCOTUS

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Washington (CNN) -- The Supreme Court sided with Congress on Thursday in the high-stakes power struggle over presidential recess appointments, in which officials are placed in top government jobs temporarily without Senate approval.

The justices' unanimous ruling on the narrowest of grounds against the Obama administration could invalidate hundreds of decisions by the National Labor Relations Board, the federal agency at the center of this legal fight.

At issue is whether three people named by President Barack Obama to the board were ineligible to serve because their appointments were made while the Senate was technically in a "pro forma" session during the 2011-12 winter holiday break. That meant the mostly empty chamber was convening every three days without any business conducted, and with the sessions lasting only minutes at most.

The court majority concluded recess appointments would be valid if those breaks lasted 10 days or more.

The Constitution allows a president to fill temporary appointments during a recess, without congressional approval. But more recently, lawmakers have sought to thwart certain appointments by never technically shutting down the Senate.

The closely watched constitutional and political confrontation over the practice has accelerated because of partisan gridlock in Congress.

Presidential spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters on Air Force One that the White House was "deeply disappointed" in the decision and said the administration is "still reviewing it."

The court's opinion will not have an immediate effect, since Democrats controlling the Senate imposed rules making it harder for Republicans to block Obama's nominees. But a change in Senate control after November's midterm elections could renew the disagreements.

"We conclude that the Recess Appointment Clause does not give the President the constitutional authority to make the appointments here at issue," Justice Stephen Breyer said. "We hold that the Senate is in session, and not in recess, when the Senate says that it is in session."
 
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