Obama Administration Seeks Supreme Court Review of Recess Appointment Decision

CFPB U.S. Supreme Court Single-Director Structure

On April 25, the DOJ and the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) filed a petition seeking U.S. Supreme Court review of the D.C. Circuit Court’s January 25, 2013 decision invalidating the appointment of three NLRB members. Nat’l Labor Rel. Bd. v. Noel Canning, No. 12-1281 (cert. pet. filed, Apr. 25, 2013). The D.C. Circuit held that appointments to the NLRB made by President Obama in January 2012 during a purported Senate recess were unconstitutional. CFPB Director Richard Cordray was appointed in the same manner and on the same day as the NLRB members, and his appointment is the subject of a lawsuit currently pending in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. The petition asks the Court to resolve two questions: (i) whether the President’s recess appointment power may be exercised during a recess that occurs within a session of the Senate, or is instead limited to recesses that occur between enumerated sessions, and (ii) whether the President’s recess appointment power may be exercised to fill vacancies that exist during a recess, or is instead limited to vacancies that first arose during that recess. If the Court accepts review of the case, it likely would be heard during the Court’s next session, which begins in October 2013.