By making unconstitutional appointments, Obama is unfortunately more concerned with short-term political maneuvers than a legacy in the long run of a strong executive that is not repeatedly questioned by the other branches for overstepping the bounds of authority.
The D.C. Circuit rebuffed President Obama for
unconstitutionally making three appointments to the National Labor Relations Board
without Senate consent during a pro forma session. In a case brought by members of Congress
among others, the D.C. Circuit held
that “[a]llowing the president to define the scope of his own appointments
power would eviscerate the Constitution’s separation of powers.”
Former Bush Assistant Attorney General John Yoo is among
those concerned that the ultimate loser in Obama’s power grab will be future presidents. Yoo writes
in the Wall Street Journal that Obama
has left a disturbing legacy of diminished executive power.
For what did Obama risk the authority of the presidency to
make appointments? A few appointments to
fill empty posts at administrative agencies.
According to Yoo, Obama “distorted the Framers' presidency into an
instigator of domestic revolution, rather than as the protector of the national
security and the enforcer of the laws.”
Yoo concludes that “Mr. Obama's abdication of a core
constitutional responsibility as a way of advancing his political fortunes is a
remarkable and troubling turn in the history of the presidency.”
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