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162 U. Pa. L. Rev. Online 1 (2013-2014)

handle is hein.journals/pennumbra162 and id is 1 raw text is: CASE NOTE THE FUTURE OF RECESS APPOINTMENTS AFTER THE DECISION OF THE D.C. CIRCUIT IN NOEL CANNING V NLRB JAMES M. HOBBSt INTRODUCTION President Obama outraged congressional Republicans in early 2012 when he used his recess appointment power to name the first Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and three new mem- bers to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).' The President made the appointments despite pro forma Senate sessions specifically designed to prevent him from filling the positions.2 Partisans from both sides of the aisle immediately jumped in. Were these intrasession recess appointments an example of the President arrogantly circumvent[ing] the American people . . . . [in] a sharp departure from a longstanding precedent? Or were the pro forma sessions nothing more than a gimmick created to t Alumni & Philanthropy Chair, University of Pennsylvania Law Review, Volume 162. J.D. Candidate, 2014, University of Pennsylvania Law School; B.A., 2011, Colorado College. I would like to thank the editors of the Law Review for their work on this piece, particularly Jessica Rice and Bianca Nunes. All remaining errors are my own. 1 See Press Release, Office of the Press Sec'y, President Obama Announces Recess Appoint- ments to Key Administration Posts (Jan. 4, 2012) [hereinafter Recess Appointment Press Release], available at http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2012/o/o4/president-obama-announces- recess -appointments -key-administration-posts. Senator Mitch McConnell called the move unprecedented and argued that it placed the appointees in uncertain legal territory. Laura Meckler, Obama Appoints Cordray to Lead Consumer Bureau, WALL ST. J. (Jan. 4, 2012), http:// online.wsj.com/article/SB00014240529702034710045771405521338o9784.html. 2 See Meckler, supra note 1. 3 Id. (quoting Senator McConnell). (1)