The U.S. Supreme Court recently released its decision in National Labor Relations Board v. Noel Canning, a case that piqued the interest of many constitutional scholars by questioning whether the president can legally appoint government officials without Senate approval during congressional recesses—even when the Senate is meeting in “pro forma” sessions where a few senators gavel in for only a few minutes.
The answer to the question, according to all nine justices, is “no.” Although the decision’s impact on executive appointments will be significant, it will also have practical impacts on the National Labor Relations Board—and by extension the labor and employment laws affecting U.S. employers—because the appointments in question were for three NLRB members who issued decisions for 18 months.
