IV 
112TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. RES. 509 
Disapproving of the President’s appointment of four officers or employees 
of the United States during a period when no recess of the Congress 
for a period of more than three days was authorized by concurrent 
resolution and expressing the sense of the House of Representatives 
that those appointments were made in violation of the Constitution. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JANUARY 10, 2012 
Mrs. BLACK (for herself, Mrs. ADAMS, Mr. AKIN, Mr. AUSTRIA, Mr. BILI-
RAKIS, Mrs. BLACKBURN, Mr. BONNER, Mr. BROOKS, Mr. BURGESS, Mr. 
BURTON of Indiana, Mr. COFFMAN of Colorado, Mr. CONAWAY, Mr. 
CRAVAACK, Mr. CRAWFORD, Mr. DESJARLAIS, Mr. DUNCAN of Ten-
nessee, Mrs. ELLMERS, Mr. FINCHER, Mr. FITZPATRICK, Mr. FLAKE, 
Mr. FLEISCHMANN, Mr. FRANKS of Arizona, Mr. GARRETT, Mr. GER-
LACH, Mr. GIBBS, Mr. GOHMERT, Mr. GOSAR, Mr. GRIFFIN of Arkansas, 
Mr. GUTHRIE, Mr. HARPER, Mr. HARRIS, Mr. HUIZENGA of Michigan, 
Mr. HULTGREN, Ms. JENKINS, Mr. JOHNSON of Ohio, Mr. SAM JOHN-
SON of Texas, Mr. JONES, Mr. KING of Iowa, Mr. KINZINGER of Illinois, 
Mr. LABRADOR, Mr. LAMBORN, Mr. LANDRY, Mrs. LUMMIS, Mr. 
MARINO, Mr. MCCLINTOCK, Mr. MCCOTTER, Mr. MCHENRY, Mr. MIL-
LER of Florida, Mr. MULVANEY, Mr. MURPHY of Pennsylvania, Mr. 
NUGENT, Mr. NUNNELEE, Mr. PALAZZO, Mr. PAUL, Mr. PITTS, Mr. 
POMPEO, Mrs. ROBY, Mr. ROSS of Florida, Mrs. SCHMIDT, Mr. SCHOCK, 
Mr. SIMPSON, Mr. STIVERS, Mr. TIBERI, Mr. WALSH of Illinois, Mr. 
WESTMORELAND, Mr. WILSON of South Carolina, Mr. WOMACK, Mr. 
YOUNG of Florida, Mr. SCALISE, Mr. CANSECO, and Mr. QUAYLE) sub-
mitted the following resolution 
JANUARY 17, 2012 
Referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 
RESOLUTION 
Disapproving of the President’s appointment of four officers 
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•HRES 509 IH 
or employees of the United States during a period when 
no recess of the Congress for a period of more than 
three days was authorized by concurrent resolution and 
expressing the sense of the House of Representatives 
that those appointments were made in violation of the 
Constitution. 
Whereas article 1, section 5, clause 4 of the Constitution 
states, ‘‘Neither House, during the Session of Congress, 
shall, without the Consent of the other, adjourn for more 
than three days’’; 
Whereas a 1993 Justice Department Memorandum, relating 
to the case of Mackie v. Clinton and formally known as 
the Memorandum of Points and Authorities in Support 
of Defendants’ Opposition to Plaintiffs’ Motion for Par-
tial Summary Judgment, states the following: ‘‘If the re-
cess here at issue were of three days or less, a closer 
question would be presented. The Constitution restricts 
the Senate’s ability to adjourn its session for more than 
three days without obtaining the consent of the House of 
Representatives . . . It might be argued that this means 
that the Framers did not consider one, two and three day 
recesses to be constitutionally significant.’’; 
Whereas, on January 4, 2012, President Barack Obama ap-
pointed Richard Cordray to be the Director of the Bu-
reau of Consumer Financial Protection and appointed 
Sharon Block, Terence Flynn, and Richard Griffin to the 
National Labor Relations Board; and 
Whereas these appointments broke the long-established prece-
dent of Congress being in recess for more than three 
days before the President can make a recess appoint-
ment: Now, therefore, be it 
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•HRES 509 IH 
Resolved, That the House of Representatives dis-
approves of the President’s appointment of four officers 
or employees of the United States during a period when 
no recess of the Congress for a period of more than three 
days was authorized by concurrent resolution and ex-
presses the sense of the House of Representatives that 
those appointments were made in violation of the Con-
stitution. 
Æ 
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