Anticipation Builds Over Possible Obama Recess Appointments

President Obama is spending a quiet family weekend at Camp David but he could stir up another wave of partisan acrimony  today by using recess appointments to fill some administration posts - among them Craig Becker to the National Labor Relations Board.

All 41 Senate Republicans wrote Obama this week urging him not to use a recess appointment for Becker, a former top lawyer with Service Employees International Union and the AFL-CIO. The Chamber of Commerce also wrote Obama on behalf, it said, of 20 business groups that oppose Becker's nomination.

Obama has yet to make a recess appointment.

Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa and chairman of the Health, Labor, Education and Pensions Committee, told Congressional Quarterly this week that Becker would soon land at the NRLB. "It's going to happen," Harkin said. Labor Secretary Hilda Solis told the AFL-CIO meeting in Orlando March 3 that labor leaders would be "very pleased" with Obama's handling of Becker during the Easter recess.

White House officials had no comment Friday on Obama's plans. The officials' only advice over the weekend: "stay tuned."

The Senate GOP letter asked Obama not to act "in contravention of the bipartisan Senate vote against" Becker's nomination. Republicans suggested Obama scrap Becker's nomination and appoint one Democrat, Mark Pearce, and one Republican, Brain Lewis, to the other vacant seats. Democrats suspect Obama will appoint Becker and Pearce during the Passover/Easter recess that officially begins today.

"We oppose Mr. Becker’s recess appointment because of his extensive, highly controversial writings, and his entire legal and scholarly career, all of which indicate that he could not be viewed as impartial, unbiased, or objective in deciding cases before this quasi-judicial agency," the GOP letter said. "Instead, his writings clearly indicate that he would use his position on the NLRB to institute far-reaching changes in labor law far exceeding the Board’s authority and bypassing the role of Congress."

The administration might also see recess appointments for Becker and others  - including nominees to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, for example - as an antidote to the embarrassment Friday of seeing its second nominee for the Transportation Safety Administration withdraw.

Ret. Army Maj. General Robert Harding withdrew his nomination after a Senate committee raised questions about his contracting firm overcharging the Pentagon for interrogation services during the Iraq war.

"I feel that the distractions caused by my work as a defense contractor would not be good for this administration nor the Department of Homeland Security," Harding said in a statement released by the White House.

White House spokesman Nick Shapiro said Obama "is disappointed in this outcome but remains confident in the solid team of professionals at TSA."

When Obama nominated Harding said the 33-year Army veteran and former head of the Defense Intelligence Agency would be "a tremendous asset in our ongoing efforts to bolster security and screening measures at our airports." Obama also called the vacancy atop TSA the most important unfilled position in his administration.

Obama's first nominee to head TSA, Erroll Southers, withdrew his nomination in January after Republicans blocked his nomination over fears he would green-light collective bargaining for all TSA employees.

Labor concerns are also at the heart of opposition to Becker. Republicans cite Becker's involvement with SEIU and the AFL-CIO as well as academic writings defending pro-labor NLRB rulings as evidence of pro-union bias. Democratic groups, such as the AFL-CIO, have said Becker's an experienced advocate for worker rights and have decried GOP "obstructionism."

Rich Trumka, president of the AFL-CIO, wrote Feb. 12 that it was up to Obama to use executive powers to thwart the GOP hostility to Becker.

'We’re used to the Republicans playing the role of Lucy and yanking the football away each time Charlie Brown tries to kick it. We’ve seen it on health care, jobs legislation, you name it," Trumka wrote. "President Obama has to end this farce."

The Chamber of Commerce and other business groups lobbied Democrats Nelson and Lincoln to oppose Becker. It appears the only way for Obama to prevail in Becker's nomination is to use his recess appointment powers.

The five-member NRLB has only two members, less than a quorum. Under federal law, three members are required for binding action, even when only term members serve and agree on a case.

Hundreds of cases have been decided by the two members on the board and federal appeals courts have upheld many. But the Supreme Court is reviewing some cases and could invalidate hundreds more if it nullifies action from only two board members acting without a quorum.

The board has had only two members for more than two years.

On Feb. 9, the Senate failed to break a GOP filibuster against Becker on a 52-33 vote. Democrats Ben Nelson of Nebraska and Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas joined all Republicans present to oppose Becker.

It has been customary in recent years to combine all three NRLB nominations together to minimize partisan resistance. Becker's defeat essentially nullified Obama's other two NRLB nominees.

The White House is in no mood to ditch Becker, whose nomination has become a test of administration grit within the labor movement. If Obama appoints Becker during this recess he could serve as board chairman until the end of 2011.