White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said that President Obama acted “very judicious[ly]” in making a rash of controversial recess appointments yesterday, but dismissed as “esoteric” a question noting that Obama didn’t even give the Senate an opportunity to consider one of the appointees.
“[President Obama] exercises his executive authority, I think, in a very judicious manner,” Carney said today when asked about the recess appointments, adding minutes later that “we can’t wait for a process that has proven itself to be broken to fix itself. And with regards to the President’s constitutional authority, which you’ve said he has, he’s going to exercise it.”
Carney said that “our legal standing here we are very confident on,” although Obama’s Department of Justice (DOJ) opined last year that the president could not make recess appointments only one day after a congressional session. “So the President acted because Congress wouldn’t, and it was clear that Congress wouldn’t — and numerous senators have made clear they won’t,” he added.”
He dismissed a question about why Obama recess-appointed two National Labor Relations Board members — Sharon Block and Richard Griffin — after nominating them so recently (December 14th) that the Senate has not had time to debate the nominations. “Out of deference to your colleagues, we can have this esoteric conversation later,” Carney told the reporter, after noting that “the Senate Republicans’ disposition towards this [nominee] could not have been more clear.”
