Barack Obama I, the benevolent dictator

The White House quietly announced on Wednesday that members of Congress can still their federal health insurance subsidies in spite of a clause in the Affordable Care Act that specifically says otherwise.  The law requires members of Congress to purchase unsubsidized insurance on Obamacare’s new exchanges “notwithstanding any other provision of law.”  Obama made a “personally request” that his Office of Personnel Management continue to pay the subsidies to congressional members and staffers with salaries as high as $175,000 according to the Wall St. Journal.  In response, the OPM decided to interpret the clause completely opposite from the way it has been traditionally understood.

According to NPR, the prospect that Congress would have to pay the same insurance rates as the rest of the country led to a “bipartisan uproar” and fears of a “brain drain” as staffers retired to keep their benefits.  When rumors of a congressional exemption became public last April, a Rasmussen poll indicated that 95 percent of Americans believed that Congress should face the same requirements as all other Americans.  It would have been a political nightmare for Democrats in Congress to enact legislation exempting themselves from an unpopular law just prior to a hotly contested election.  Fortunately for Congress, President Obama stepped in to save the day.

Court slaps Obama’s hand for unconstitutional recess appointments

Steve Jurvetson/Wikimedia

A federal appeals court ruled yesterday that President Obama unconstitutionally exceeded his executive authority when he made three recess appointments to the National Labor Relations Board last January.  As Examiner reported at the time, the president made the recess appointments in spite of the fact that the senate, which confirms presidential appointments, was still conducting pro forma sessions and was not in recess.

 

According to Article II section 2 clause 3 of the Constitution, the president has the power to fill vacancies that occur while the Senate is in recess. These recess appointments escape the immediate need to be confirmed by the Senate, but expire at the end of the next session of Congress.  However, Article I section 5 clause 4 states that neither house of Congress can adjourn for more than three days without the consent of the other. This is done by passing a resolution in both the House and the Senate. In the case of Obama’s appointments, there is no disagreement that Congress was not formally recessed since neither the House nor the Senate had passed a resolution to end the session.

Read the rest on Examiner:

http://www.examiner.com/article/court-rebukes-obama-for-unconstitutional-recess-appointments?cid=db_articles