Senator Lamar Alexander, the Ranking Member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, today called on the two members of the National Labor Relations Board appointed by President Obama in January during a pro-forma session of the United States Senate to resign immediately after a Federal Circuit Court of Appeals panel ruled those appointments unconstitutional.
Senator Alexander said: “The court has found that the president violated the Constitution when he made these appointments.
These individuals should resign from the board immediately, because no decision in which they participate can be valid. This judgment is proof that the administration defied the Constitution’s separation of powers and its concept of checks and balances, which are the guard against an imperial presidency.”
Senator Bob Corker applauded the ruling, calling it "a huge victory for all who believe in balance of power and the rule of law.”
In September, Senators Alexander and Corker and 40 of their Senate colleagues filed an amicus brief in the case (Noel Canning v. NLRB), a challenge to the constitutionality of President Obama’s so-called “recess” appointments to the National Labor Relations Board in January.