Presidential Nominations

Earlier this year, the President made an appointment to head a controversial new agency known as the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and filled three vacancies at the National Labor Relations Board.
 
The Constitution specifies that the President may appoint nominees with the “advice and consent” of the Senate, and that in exceptional circumstances he may make appointments when the Senate remains in a lengthy period of recess. Neither of these constitutional requirements was satisfied at the time the President made the appointments.
 
In doing so, the President violated the fundamental system of checks and balances enshrined in our Constitution that protect against the dominance of one branch of government over another.
 
I take this violation seriously, as must all Americans. To allow the President to take power that does not belong to him without consequence is a step toward tyranny.

Ours is not a government of one. The Constitution isn't always efficient, but for nearly 225 years it has protected our God-given rights from would-be despots and self-styled monarchs.  

Before January 4th, I routinely cooperated with the White House regarding federal nominees, often when I had significant political or philosophical differences with them. The entire Senate, in fact, has been more than cooperative, confirming more than 95% of this administration’s nominees. I will no longer provide such cooperation, and I urge my Senate colleagues to join me in resisting further nominations until the President rescinds his unconstitutional appointments.

Press Releases

Press Releases 01/13/2014
Lee Reacts to Oral Argument in Recess Appointments Case
Today, Senator Mike Lee said that he expects the Supreme Court to determine that President Obama’s controversial recess appointments from January 2012 were unconstitutional. Sen. Lee, who is a former Supreme Court clerk for Justice Samuel Alito, has been a strong and vocal opponent of President Obama’s attempt to usurp the rights of the Senate in the appointment and confirmation of nominees to the executive and judicial branch. He attended the oral argument today in the case of National Labor Relations Board v Noel Canning.
Press Releases 06/24/2013
Lee Reacts to Supreme Court Decision to Hear Recess Appointment Case
Although I am pleased to hear that the Supreme Court will address the constitutionality of President Obama’s purported recess appointments, had the Senate protected its institutional prerogatives and objected to the President’s violation of the Constitution’s separation of powers, the case would never have needed to go to court.
Press Releases 01/25/2013
Lee Praises D.C. Circuit Ruling on President Obama’s Unconstitutional “Recess” Appointments
Over the course of the last year, I have spoken out against these unprecedented and unconstitutional actions in numerous settings, including in meetings of the Senate Judiciary Committee, on the floor of the U.S. Senate, in a hearing before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, and in countless interviews in the press. In protest of these unconstitutional appointments, I voted against President Obama’s judicial and executive appointments. Today’s decision represents vindication of the principled stand I have taken against this President’s disregard of our nation’s Constitution.
Press Releases 03/14/2012
Lee Applauds Reid’s Reversal on Nominations
I urge Senator Reid to withdraw his recommendation that the President recess appoint additional nominees. As Senators we have a responsibility to uphold the constitutional prerogatives of this body, including our rightful role in providing advice and consent to the President's nominations.
Press Releases 03/12/2012
Lee Blasts Reid on Nominations ‘Stunt’
Senator Harry Reid’s action is nothing more than a political stunt designed to distract the American people from the Democrats’ legislative failures. His sudden interest in judicial nominations is a desperate attempt to draw attention away from his party's failure to address our nation's economic emergencies.
Press Releases 03/1/2012
Lee Opposes Nomination of Hurwitz to Ninth Circuit Court
I oppose the nomination of Andrew Hurwitz based on concerns I have with his constitutional jurisprudence.

Day Lee Briefings

Day Lee Briefing 03/2/2012
Voting No on Andrew Hurwitz -- Day Lee Briefing 03/02/2012
Voting no on Andrew Hurwitz.
Day Lee Briefing 03/1/2012
Ending Energy Subsidies -- Day Lee Briefing 03/01/2012
Today, Senator Lee will meet with the Western Caucus working group, and also with representatives of the Sound Geothermal Exchange Organization, the National Treasury Employees Union, and the Utah Wing of the Air Force Auxiliary/Civil Air Patrol. He will also attend a press conference regarding energy.
Day Lee Briefing 02/28/2012
Government of Laws -- Day Lee Briefing 02/28/2012
Mr. Obama’s unprecedented and unconstitutional assertion of the recess appointment power would allow presidents of both parties to routinely circumvent the Senate’s advice-and-consent function and thus deprive the people’s representatives of an essential constitutional check on the executive branch.
Day Lee Briefing 02/24/2012
Gas Prices Going Up -- Day Lee Briefing 02/24/2012
Gas prices have gained 12 cents this week, as tensions over Iran heat up and oil prices keep moving higher.

Op-Eds

Op-Eds 03/14/2012
Democratic Hypocrisy
Claims of Republican obstruction are not only demonstrably false, they are highly hypocritical. The very Democrats now seeking to manufacture confirmation controversy personally devised and carried out a systematic effort to block President Bush’s judicial nominees through an unprecedented use of the Senate filibuster.
Op-Eds 02/28/2012
LEE: Obama’s lawless recess appointments
The president cannot expect the Senate’s full cooperation at the same time that he does violence to Congress‘ constitutional prerogatives. In response to the president’s unconstitutional actions, the Senate must adopt a new threshold for confirming his nominees. Simply put, there is a new standard for Senate confirmations.

Blogs