NewsThe US Supreme Court [official website] heard oral argument [day call, PDF] Monday in a National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) [official website] case that will impact the president’s power to temporarily fill vacant agency positions.
News
 [text, PDF], SW General argues that someone nominated by the president to permanently fill a vacant position can no longer serve in an acting capacity unless that person served as first assistant to the vacant position for at least 90 days in the prior year, and the <a
href=https://www.cadc.uscourts.gov/internet/home.nsf>US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit</a> [official website] agreed. However, the NLRB argues that the FVRA limitation being used only applies when a first assistant is nominated to permanently fill a position, not when a different senior official from that agency is nominated. SW General’s counsel and the government’s acting solicitor general both fielded plenty of questions, and the court <a
href=https://origin-nyi.thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/304717-supreme-court-hears-case-testing-presidents-power-to-fill-agency>appeared to be divided</a> [Hill report].</p><p>The Supreme Court in 2014 heard a related case involving the president’s power to make recess appointments. The court <a
href=/paperchase/2014/06/supreme-court-rules-against-obama-on-recess-appointments.php>held</a> [JURIST report] that while the president does have authority to make appointments during a recess of the Senate, US <a
href=https://www.whitehouse.gov/administration/president-obama>President Barack Obama</a> [official profile] overstepped his authority when he appointed three members to the NLRB in January 2012. Specifically, the court ruled these particular appointments were unconstitutional because the Senate’s recess was punctuated by <em>pro forma</em> sessions, during which no business was transacted.</p></div></div></article></div></section><aside
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