Sneaky Obama names 15 recess appointments, including radical union lawyer

March 27, 2010 19:03


Look for card check by regulation and many other union favors as Obama seeks to pay back his vast union support.

Tony Romm – 03/27/10 via The Hill

President Barack Obama on Saturday wielded his recess appointment powers for the first time, clearing 15 nominees to assume posts that have remained vacant for months due to insurmountable congressional roadblocks.

Among the 15 named just days before the Senate departs for Easter recess are Craig Becker and Mark Pearce, the recess appointment’s two, hotly contested nominees for the National Labor Relations Board.

Republicans have staunchly opposed both nominees, Becker especially, for their pro-labor positions. Business associations were also opposed to the appoinment of Becker, an associate general counsel to both the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and AFL-CIO who was nominated by Obama to the NLRB but failed this February to secure 60 votes in the Senate for confirmation. Still, their appointment to the NLRB means the agency may now resume deciding labor disputes without the looming threat of a shutdown by the Supreme Court.

Noticeably absent from the list, however, is Dawn Johnsen, the White House’s nominee to head the Office of Legal Counsel. Republicans have long excoriated Johnsen for being too much of an ideologue to run such an important wing of the Justice Department, though the Obama administration has repeated it remains confident in her leadership abilities.

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