Just weeks after Republicans blocked Elizabeth Warren’s appointment to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) on Memorial Day weekend, a group of GOP House members is looking to prevent future recess appointments over holiday weekends.
The members sent a letter to House Republican leaders calling on them to block recess appointments by President Barack Obama for the remainder of this Congress.
The letter, spearheaded by Louisiana GOP Rep. Jeff Landry, has collected the signature of 77 Republican freshmen representatives and calls for “all measures (to) be taken to prevent any and all recess appointments.” There are 87 House Republican freshmen.
The Republicans who signed the letter also support an end to recesses over three days, in order to keep the president from using long weekends to avoid the confirmation process.
“We don’t think we should allow him to make recess appointments,” Landry said to The Daily Caller. “This is basically an issue of Congress exercising its rightful power under the Constitution to keep its executive branch in check.”
Landry and other GOP members believe Obama may attempt to appoint Warren as head of the CFPB over the July 4th weekend.
Democrats have expressed support for Warren, with 89 Democratic House members signing a letter earlier this month encouraging Obama to make the recess appointment.
(Did Elizabeth Warren lie to Congress?)
Democrat New York Rep. Caroyln Maloney, a noted supporter of Warren, said Republicans are trying to have it both ways when it comes to appointment procedures.
“The GOP minority in the Senate and now members of the majority in the House don’t want the Senate to work –fulfilling its constitutional duty to ‘advise and consent’ on appointments,” said Maloney in an email to TheDC. “And, now they don’t want the Senate to NOT work, either, denying the president his constitutional right to make a recess appointment. They’ve created a ‘reverse filibuster’!”
Landry said he hasn’t received word from House Speaker John Boehner on whether he would keep the House in session to prevent recess appointments but said he has gotten “encouragement on the issue” from his colleagues.
“All we’re doing is saying, ‘we’re just not going to recess,’” Landry said.
Landry said he’s been disappointed in Obama’s willingness to make recess appointments because the Senate hasn’t been busy with legislative matters.
“The Senate has done nothing, they haven’t even (passed) a budget in 700 days, it’s not like they have a lot on their plate,” Landry said. “Maybe the American people would get some tax dollars worth out of their Senate if their go to work.”