By USDR
When asked by CNSNews.com whether President Barack Obama has the constitutional authority to act on climate change without congressional authority, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said the president does not have that authority and relies on the complexity of legal challenges to his actions.
CNSNews.com asked: “Does President Obama have the constitutional authority to act on climate change, for example, without congressional approval?”
“I don’t believe so,” McCain said. “Certainly not the spirit of the Constitution and I think (he) violated the letters we’re finding out in the NLRB (National Labor Relations Board) case.
“The problem is, the challenging of these actions takes a very, very long time wending its way through the courts,” McCain said. “So I guess that’s what he relies on.”
The United States Supreme Court recently heard arguments on presidential recess appointment authority after a federal judge ruled that Obama’s appointment of three members to the NLRB was unconstitutional.
Senate Republicans had blocked confirmation of Obama’s appointments to the board in 2011. During a 20-day period in 2012 when the Senate was not formally adjourned Obama filled the vacancies, citing the Constitution’s recess appointments clause.
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