AFA of PA ACTION ALERT

September 28, 2012

Issue

Thank Senator Toomey for Taking on President Obama

Details

The National Labor Relations Board is supposed to be an impartial board.  However, in March 2010 President Obama used recess appointments to seat 15 nominees to various posts.  Included in those were Craig Becker and Mark Pearce, the White House’s two controversial nominees for the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).  Both of these individuals are pro-union and Becker, the most troublesome, supports card-check legislation.

Then in January of this year, Obama again used recess appointments to the NLRB.  Democrats Richard Griffin and Sharon Block are very pro-union. Griffin is an attorney for the Operating Engineers; Sharon Block worked for the Department of Labor and previously for members of Congress.  Additionally, Obama had nominated these two individuals just TWO days before the Senate was scheduled to adjourn.  Neither has gone through a single confirmation hearing or a single day of debate before the President used his recess appointment power!!  On top of all that, the US House had not agreed to a recess longer than three days at the end of 2011, thus the Senate was required to hold pro-forma sessions in order to conduct some business.  So . . . Congress was not in recess and Obama could not constitutionally use his recess appointment power!!

On Thursday, September 27th, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and 41 other Senators filed an amicus brief  in a case pending in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit challenging  President Obama’s non-recess recess appointments to the NLRB in January.

Pennsylvania is represented in that amicus brief with the signature of Senator Pat Toomey.

Action Steps

Thank Senator Toomey for taking a stand for the Constitution and signing onto the “friend of the court” brief supporting the challenge to Obama’s very controversial recess appointments to the National Labor Relations Board in January.

Contact Senator Toomey’s Washington office at (202) 224-4254 or his Harrisburg office at (717) 782-3951 or use the contact form on his website here.

Print Friendly, PDF & Email