The question debated last week at a House Judiciary hearing was whether President Obama's recess appointment of Richard Cordray to head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau took place during a legitimate recess and thus is constitutional, or, it didn't and it isn't. Here's how the experts lined up:
Constitutional: John Elwood, partner at Vinson and Elkins
Unconstitutional: George Washington University Law School professor Jonathan Turley, and Charles Cooper, partner at Cooper & Kirk.
The three agreed that there is little in the case law to guide an answer. The National Law Journal has a story on the hearing. Here's a very helpful Q&A from the Congressional Research Service on the subject.
See also former Attorney General Ed Meese arguing in the Washington Post arguing that the appointment is unconstitutional, Prof. Laurence Tribe in the New York Times defending its constitutionality, and Prof. Richard Epstein arguing against recess appointments in general.
