Under the default constitutional rule, all federal officials are nominated by the president with the “advice and consent of the Senate.” But sometimes, when an unexpected vacancy arises, appointing and confirming a replacement can take a while. Congress knows this, and that’s why it has enacted—and frequently updated—the Vacancies Act. The latest version, called the Federal Vacancies Reform Act (FVRA), authorizes the president to bypass advice and consent by appointing temporary “acting officers” to fill certain vacancies.
But Congress is keenly aware that such a unilateral appointment power can be easily abused. That’s why acting officers serve under a strict 210-day time limit. It’s also why “a person may not serve as an acting officer” if that person is nominated to be the permanent officer (with an exception only for longtime first assistants).
Nonetheless, in January 2011, President Obama nominated Lafe Solomon to be the permanent general counsel of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) while he was serving—and continued to serve—as the acting general counsel. When Solomon later brought enforcement proceedings against an ambulance company, SW General, that company objected on the grounds that Solomon was no longer validly serving as acting general counsel once he was nominated for the permanent job. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit agreed based on a straightforward reading of the text of the FVRA, but the NLRB appealed to the Supreme Court.
Read more at https://www.cato.org/blog/president-obama-keeps-making-unconstitutional-appointments
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