Isakson, Chambliss join fight against Obama’s recess appointments

Georgia’s two senators say they are planning to join a legal challenge recent recess appointments President Obama made.

The 39 senators are planning to file an “amicus brief challenging the constitutionality of President Obama’s appointments,” they said in a statement. The House was not in session when Obama made the appointments, but Democrats and Republicans are sparring over whether the Senate was in session.

Critics are challenging Obama’s appointment of Richard Cordray to head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and three members to the National Labor Relations Board.

“President Obama and his administration have, time and again, thwarted the will of the Senate with recess appointments of individuals that Senate has either already rejected outright or has never vetted,” U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., said in a statement. “His flagrant disregard not only of the role of the Senate, but also of the foundation upon which our country stands, must be stopped.”

Added U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., in a statement: “I am very concerned that, in making these recess appointments, the president has chosen to ignore the Constitution and disregard longstanding rules and precedents. We cannot change rules every time we change presidents.”

On Thursday, Chambliss and Isakson asked Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., to clarify “serious inconsistencies” in his past statements about the use of recess appointments.

“This apparent shift in your position raises a number of concerns. Most specifically, it appears that you believe the importance of preserving Senate’s constitutional role in the nomination and appointment process varies depending on the political party of the President,” the senators, along with 32 other, said in a letter to Reid.