NLRB v. Noel Canning (573 U.S. 513)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided June 26, 2014 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 573 U.S. 513 · 134 S. Ct. 2550
- Decided
- June 26, 2014
- Term
- October Term 2013
- Vote
- 9–0
- Majority author
- Justice Breyer
- Issue area
- Miscellaneous
- Disposition
- Affirmed
- Outcome
- Petitioning party lost
- Ideological direction
- Conservative
Opinion excerpt
Justice BREYER delivered the opinion of the Court. Ordinarily the President must obtain "the Advice and Consent of the Senate" before appointing an "Office[r] of the United States." U.S. Const., Art. II, § 2, cl. 2. But the Recess Appointments Clause creates an exception. It gives the President alone the power "to fill up all Vacancies that may happen during the Recess of the Senate, by granting Commissions which shall expire at the End of their next Session." Art. II, § 2, cl. 3. We here consider three questions about the application of this Clause. The first concerns the scope of the words "recess of the Senate." Does that phrase refer only to an inter-session recess ( i.e., a break between formal sessions of Congress), or does it also include an intra-session recess, such as a summer recess in the midst of a session? We conclude that the Clause applies to both kinds of recess. The second question concerns the scope of the words "vacancies that may happen." Does that phrase refer only to vacancies that first come into existence during a recess, or does it also include vacancies that arise prior to a recess but continue to exist during the recess? We conclude that the Clause applies to both kinds of vacancy. The third question concerns calculation of the length of a "recess." The President made the appointments here at issue on January 4, 2012. At that time the Senate was in…
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