RNC chairman says Obama recess appointments ‘trampling the Constitution’

Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus said a handful of recent recess appointments serve as “one more chapter in Barack Obama’s book of trampling the Constitution.”

“When it comes to power, when it comes to the growth of government, this president takes the cake. He gets the blue ribbon,” he said on “Fox News Sunday.”

{mosads}Republicans have been crying foul for days, after Obama decided to push through several contentious nominations without Senate approval. On Wednesday, he announced Richard Cordray would serve as the first director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and followed that up by appointing three members to the National Labor Relations Board.

What is particularly driving GOP ire is the fact that the Senate has been kept in brief pro forma sessions in an effort to block such recess appointments. The White House ignored those sessions, calling them gimmicks, leading the GOP to accuse the president of an unprecedented power grab.

The White House believes it has the upper hand in the fight, given Cordray’s position as a watchdog for consumers against a financial system that is currently not in high public regard. And Priebus acknowledged the GOP will not be making major use of the fight on the campaign trail.

“I’m not saying we’re going to win an election on this issue,” he said.

Appearing on the same program, Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.), who chairs the Democratic National Committee, defended the president’s move as the right one for consumers in fighting GOP opposition.

“They have no interest in protecting consumers,” she said. “President Obama … went to bat for consumers.”