Sen. Paul to Challenge Cordray Recess Appointment

Politico (2/1, Kim) reports that Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) “is joining a legal challenge to President Barack Obama’s recess appointments to the National Labor Relations Board.” Paul “appears to be the first sitting senator to legally object to the Jan. 4 appointments that drew fire from congressional Republicans, who say the president overstepped constitutional boundaries by installing three members to the labor board and Richard Cordray to lead the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. ‘With the recent recess appointments, President Obama has circumvented our Constitution and showed complete disregard for the separation of powers,’ Paul said in a statement Tuesday.” Politico notes that Paul plans to file an amicus brief in support of a legal challenge by the National Federation for Independent Business and the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation.

 Senate Republicans dispute legitimacy Of Cordray’s appointment. The Hill (2/1, Schroeder) reports in its “On The Money” blog, “Senate Republicans stared down President Obama’s appointee to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on Tuesday and all but declared him illegitimate.” Richard Cordray, appearing before the Senate “for the first time since his controversial recess appointment in January,” got “an earful from Republicans still fuming about Obama’s decision.” The Hill notes that four Republican members of the committee “refused to attend the hearing, arguing that to do so would legitimize an invalid appointment.”