By Adam Bitely — The decision from the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals last Friday that ruled Obama’s recess appointments in January of 2012 were illegal has elicited the following response from the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB): So what?
Specifically, the Chairman of the NLRB stated the following: “The Board respectfully disagrees with today’s decision and believes that the President’s position in the matter will ultimately be upheld.” And with that said the NLRB is going on about its business as if the ruling never happened.
Obama made the recess appointments in January 2012 during a break in the congressional schedule attempting to avoid the regular constitutional advice and consent process. However, the Senate was holding pro forma sessions specifically to prevent Obama from avoiding Senate scrutiny of his nominees. The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals agreed that the appointments were done illegally, but so far, the Obama administration is refusing to acknowledge the Appeals Court ruling.
A Wall Street Journal editorial published on January 29 called on Congress to defund the NLRB if they fail to comply with the court ruling.
Nathan Mehrens, the general counsel at Americans for Limited Government has explained that any rulings made by the NLRB after the illegal recess appointments should be null and void—effectively reversing nearly 200 NLRB decisions that impact job creation.
If the Obama administration fails to acknowledge the illegalities surrounding the appointments to the NLRB and continues on with business as usual, Congress has no choice but to defund. If they allow the NLRB to continue to violate the law by funding their existence then they are effectively taking part in the death and burial of the Constitution.
In fact, the danger is apparent in the Administration response. The Court rules that they ignored and abused the prerogatives of the legislative branch, and Obama’s response is to ignore and abuse the prerogatives of the Court.
In one fell swoop, Obama is challenging and ignoring the basic checks and balances between the three branches of government by simply claiming that since his Administration does not agree, they don’t matter.
This should not be a partisan matter, but even if Democrats on the Hill threaten to oppose the defunding of the NLRB in the Senate with a threat of a government shutdown, Republicans must be willing to uphold the legitimacy of the Courts and of the Senate’s confirmation check on Executive branch appointments. If the left chooses to shut the government down because they disagreed with a court ruling, that is a fight worth fighting.
When the Wall Street Journal, hardly a bastion of radicalism, calls on Congress to defund a rogue agency that refuses to follow the law of the land, due to the extreme Constitutional consequences of failing to take a stand, the line in the sand has been drawn.
Because if Congress rolls over on this issue, then the government has no legitimacy or basis other than the threat of force, and they will have effectively ended the Constitutional government that has been in place for a system that befits a dictator.
Adam Bitely is the Editor-in-Chief of NetRightDaily.com. You can follow NetRightDaily on Twitter at @NetRightDaily.