Congressman Bill Johnson (R-Marietta) has joined a coalition of freshmen in the U.S. House of Representatives seeking to end "recess" appointments, which are used by Presidents to avoid having controversial nominees undergo congressional scrutiny. This coalition has sent a letter to House Republican leadership volunteering to keep the U.S. House in pro forma session to prevent such appointments. Read the full text of the letter here.
"President Obama is willfully ignoring congressional oversight in order to appoint individuals with radical agendas to important government posts," Congressman Johnson said. "While the Constitution allows for these so-called recess appointments to be used when Congress is not in session, the outrageous abuse of this by the current Administration is putting our economy at further risk. I've joined a coalition of my Republican colleagues to offer to man the Floor in the U.S. House to prevent Congress from adjourning for long enough to allow President Obama to make anymore appointments without appropriate congressional oversight."
June 15, 2011
The Honorable John Boehner
Speaker of the House
U.S. House of Representatives
H-232, The Capitol
Washington, DC 20515
The Honorable Eric Cantor
Majority Leader
U.S. House of Representatives
H-329, The Capitol
Washington, DC 20515
The Honorable Kevin McCarthy
Majority Whip
U.S. House of Representatives
H-107, The Capitol
Washington, DC 20515
Dear Speaker Boehner, Majority Leader Cantor and Whip McCarthy:
We thank you for your shrewd and strategic leadership in preventing the Administration from making recess appointments during the last Senate break. We respectfully request all appropriate measures be taken to prevent any and all recess appointments by preventing the Senate from officially recessing for the remainder of the 112th Congress.
As you are well aware, the current Administration has repeatedly proven it is unwilling to listen to the "Advice and Consent of the Senate" and has chosen instead to utilize recess appointments to fill influential posts within the Administration with individuals who embrace opinions well outside the expressed will of the American public. For example, one month after the Senate voted against confirming Mr. Craig Becker to the National Labor Relations Board and two days after receiving a letter signed by 41 Senators, President Obama chose to appoint Mr. Becker through a Recess Appointment. Since this appointment, Mr. Becker has ruled that a U.S. corporation violated workers rights simply because it moved a facility to a Right to Work state.
As freshmen, we came to the House of Representatives on a wave of public discontent with the lack of transparency in Washington and we appreciate your steadfast leadership in addressing this issue. The next logical step in our efforts to restore the public's trust in their government is to prevent further recess appointments and provide the Senate the ability to perform their Constitutional duties of scrutinizing the appointments made by President Obama.
We understand that our request will very likely mean that the House of Representatives will meet no less than once every three days for the remainder of 2011 and all of 2012. To address this possibility, we stand ready to assist you in ensuring there are always sufficient members to cover the necessary pro forma sessions.
Again, we thank you for your tireless leadership and look forward to working with you to accomplish the will of the American people.
Respectfully,
Jeff Landry
Member of Congress
Austin Scott
Member of Congress