Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) said he expects the U.S. Supreme Court will rule that President Obama's controversial recess appointments from January 2012 were unconstitutional.
The constitution allows, with some limitations, for the president to make appointments if the senate is not in session. Sen. Lee insists that the recess appointments were unconstitutional because the Senate was not in recess at the time of the appointments two years ago.
"According to the Senate's own rules, according to the Senate's own journal of its proceedings, the Senate had just reconvened. It was not in recess. Therefore, the president did not have authority to name three people to the National Labor Relations Board, and a fourth person to head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau," Lee said.
The issue, Lee said, goes far beyond the appointments themselves.
"If the court were, somehow, to conclude that this was OK, that the president did have authority to do this, that would blow a gigantic hole in the Senate's perogative to confirm presidential appointees," he said.
A Washington, D.C. circuit court has already ruled against the appointments. The Supreme Court's decision to affirm or reject the lower court's ruling is expected by June.
