More Reactions on Court Ruling on Obama's Violations of the Constitution
January 28, 2013 • 9:54AM

The far-reaching implications of the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling declaring Obama's recess appointments to be unconstitutional, most starkly identified by Lyndon LaRouche in his Friday evening webcast, are recognized in a more limited fashion by a number of Senators and others commenting on the ruling over the weekend.

* Sen. Bob CORKER (R-Tenn), on Fox News, said the ruling "was a huge victory for anybody who believes in balance of power and the Constitution," adding, "And I could not have been more excited and came up off the floor when I saw that that had happened, and hopefully the Supreme Court will uphold it." He also called what Obama had done "one of the most abusive cases ever," and went on to say: "Obviously, this ruling is very far-reaching and actually knocks down decades of action by Presidents, as far as common practice goes. But I'm very thankful that it came forth and, hopefully, we can get back to more of a balance of power."

* Sen. Orrin HATCH (R-Utah) said, "With this ruling, the D.C. Circuit has soundly rejected the Obama administration's flimsy interpretation of the law, and [it] will go a long way toward restoring the constitutional separation of powers," as reported by Associated Press.

* Sen. Chuck GRASSLEY (R-Iowa) issued a statement saying: "This decision is good news for checks and balances, an essential factor in our system of government that safeguards we the people against unchecked government power. The decision reaffirms that the Constitution gives power to the Senate in the appointment process in order to protect individual liberty. The court's conclusion is supported by the language, structure, and history of the Constitution. The court goes so far as to condemn the President for defining the scope of his own powers in the appointment process and says it would demolish the checks and balances of the Constitution... The Framers of the Constitution feared the history of tyranny that arose from executive power. The Constitution provides for presidential nomination and Senate confirmation of appointees for this reason. The limited exception of recess appointments is a victory for freedom and a lesson to the President to respect legal constraints on his expansive claims of executive power."

* Fox News Commentator Brit Hume, appearing on "Fox News Sunday," asked about the ruling, said "...it's a very big deal, and I think that it is going to be a little hard to overcome, if the Administration decides to appeal it." He said that the question of who gets to decide when the legislature is in session, the President or the legislative body, is "a separation of powers issue, and one, I think, that is likely to be resolved against the President's view here."

Although most of the press coverage focuses on the narrower issue of the impact on actions taken by the National Labor Relations Board, even while stressing this, the Wall Street Journal ran an editorial on Saturday entitled "Obama's Abuse of Power," which said that Obama's "imperial overreach" caused the courts to tilt the balance of power back to the Senate.

As to where matters go from here, Bloomberg News and others note that the Administration's options are: 1) to ask for a rehearing by the same three-judge panel, 2) to seek an en banc hearing by the entire DC Circuit, or, 3) to go directly to the Supreme Court.