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In a move that will almost certainly spur a legal challenge, President Barack Obama announced recess appointments to two federal agencies that have been the subjects of an ongoing battle between Republican members of Congress and the White House.
Despite a procedural move by Congressional Republicans to prevent recess appointments from being made by periodically gaveling in both houses of Congress in pro forma sessions over the holiday season, Obama appointed Former Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray as director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Wednesday morning.
Hours later, the White House announced the recess appointments of three nominees to the National Labor Relations Board: Democrat Sharon Block, who is currently Deputy Assistant Secretary for Congressional Affairs at the U.S. Department of Labor; Democrat Richard Griffin, general counsel for International Union of Operating Engineers; and Republican Terence F. Flynn, NLRB member Brian Hayes' chief counsel.
The move comes as the membership of the NLRB fell to below a statutory quorum, under recent Supreme Court precedent, with the expiration of one member's term. Without the...