Foxx cheers ruling
By Jim McNally
Statesville Record & Landmark
Saturday, June 28, 2014

U.S. Rep. Virginia Foxx applauded the ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court this week regarding President Obama’s use of so-called recess appointments made to the National Labor Relations Board.

“It is my hope that this unanimous decision is the first of many restoring the separation of powers among our three co-equal branches of government,” Foxx said in a statement. “The Founding Fathers provided a process for presidential appointments in the Constitution and having the president follow the process which has been in place for over 200 years isn’t asking too much.”

Foxx was referring to Article II, Section 2 of the U.S. Constitution, which states in part relative to the question at hand: “The President shall have Power to fill up all Vacancies that may happen during the Recess of the Senate, by granting Commissions which shall expire at the End of their next Session.”

Defenders of Obama’s actions clarify that Congress was only technically in session in that the body was holding “pro forma sessions” every three days expressly, some have said, to prevent Obama from making recess appointments. Indeed, some have speculated that the high court’s ruling may have essentially given birth to a loophole in the Constitution and that recess appointments may be a thing of the past.

Nonetheless, Foxx said the decision – handed down Thursday with a 9-0 vote – served as a form of comeuppance for Obama.

“The President’s actions circumventing the Senate’s confirmation process resulted in hundreds of cases and decisions that will have to be reconsidered,” said Foxx, whose 5th District includes much of Iredell. “It’s my hope that the President uses this unanimous rebuke as a learning experience and that this marks a turning of the tide from the era of executive-as-king.”