A year ago, President Obama named 3 liberal Democrats to fill vacancies on the National Labor Relations Board. He claimed that the Senate was in recess at the time, so his appointments conformed to the constitutional standard required for recess appointments. The problem was, the Senate was not in recess - technically speaking. Every couple of days during what is usually the Christmas recess, the Senate "convened" long enough to adjourn for the day. No business was transacted. But the gambit was used to prevent the president from employing the recess appointment card. One of the question before the court will be; who decides when the Senate is in recess? San Francisco Chronicle: The justices will be considering two broad questions and a narrower one as well. The big issues are whether recess appointments can be made only during the once-a-year break between sessions of Congress and whether the vacancy must occur while the Senate is away in order to be filled during...(Read Full Post)