WASHINGTON – 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.

“After hearing oral arguments today, I am very confident the Supreme Court will affirm the DC Circuit Court’s judgment in NLRB v Noel Canning and determine that the president’s recess appointments on January 4, 2012, were unconstitutional,” said Sen. Lee. “In making the appointments, the president took a power that does not belong to him. It rightfully belongs to the American people, through their representatives in the Senate, and is an essential constitutional check on the executive branch.  I am confident the Supreme Court will restore the Senate’s prerogatives and condemn this assault on the rule of law.”