Supreme Court to Hear Recess Appointment Case; Could Complicate CFPB Leadership

The U.S. Supreme Court Monday announced that it will hear a case that challenges the legality of recess appointments made by President Obama in early 2012. While the specific case concerns three appointees to the National Labor Relations Board, the outcome of the case could have a direct impact on the appointment of Richard Cordray as Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

The case, National Labor Relations Board (NRLB) v. Noel Canning, challenges the validity of the January 4, 2012 appointments of three people to the NRLB. A circuit court in Washington, D.C. earlier this year ruled the appointments unconstitutional because they did not meet the criteria for allowed recess appointments. On the same day President Obama appointed the board members, he installed Cordray as the head of the CFPB using the same doctrine.

Cordray was nominated in July 2011 to head the CFPB. But Senate Republicans blocked a vote on his confirmation for months as they tried to change the structure of the new agency to include a commission and more Congressional oversight. Obama used his recess appointment authority to install Cordray – and the NRLB board members — in early January 2012 while the Senate was in recess.