In response to President Barack Obama’s recess appointments, made while the Senate was in a pro forma session, House Democratic Caucus Chairman John Larson of Connecticut told The Daily Caller that he would “prefer everything happen in regular order.” The president, though, was justified in his actions, he said, since Republicans have been blocking his appointees.
“Of course, we’d love to see regular order, and I dare say so with the president, but when you block these people, when you can’t fill these positions and there seems to be more than a veiled attempt to prevent people from doing their job in terms of the oversight that needs to take place on Wall Street, then of course it was a timely thing for the president to do,” Larson told TheDC on Capitol Hill.
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In 2007, Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid decried the use of recess appointments and vowed to keep the Senate in a pro forma session as a way to block Republican President George W. Bush’s appointees.
“I will keep the Senate in pro forma session to block the president from doing an end run around the Senate and the Constitution with his controversial nominations,” Reid said.
When asked if he thinks President Obama’s move was a “power grab,” as Republican House Speaker John Boehner has said, Larson said, “There will always be arguments between the executive and legislative branches, and as I said, I would prefer everything happen in regular order.” (RELATED: Pelosi ‘glad’ Obama made ‘bold’ recess appointments while Congress in session [VIDEO])
Obama appointed Richard Cordray to run the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and three individuals to the National Labor Relations Board.