DC Circuit Deems President Obama’s Recess Appointments Invalid

By John Elwood

A panel of the DC Circuit (Sentelle, Henderson, Griffith) today held that President Obama’s recent recess appointments were invalid.  

Still reviewing the opinion, but it appears that the Court invalidated the use of intrasession recess appointments, which have been in pretty heavy use since WWII, and were used for a number of high-profile recess appointments, including John Bolton and Judge William H. Pryor, Jr.

This is in pretty clear conflict with an Eleventh Circuit opinion and is a broader basis for invalidating the recess appointments than I anticipated.  I suspect this one is destined for the Supreme Court.

Arguments for the validity of intrasession recess appointments can be found here and here.