Page 5 - Pro Forma Session News Today

We might bring you back. >> yes, sir. martha: looks like there will be. one decision is already in, and shannon bream has been going through it. it has to do with whether or not the president can make recess appointments as he did to the national labor relations board. the senate objected to those recess appointments that he made because they said they werent really in recess when he made them, so what has the supreme court decided? >> reporter: heres how it works. the court goes through a long ...

The court struck down a massachusetts law creating a 35-foot no protest buffer zone on public property surrounding abortion clinics. more on that decision in just a moment. first, more on the ruling that has a direct impact on the white house shs the congress and the struggle over the presidential powers issue. pamela brown is joining us in washington with more. unanimous decision, clear setback for the president. >> it is a unanimous decision. its being seen as a win for congress, a defeat fo...

That time frame were not valid. so theyre of no effect, at least during that particular time. bill: this is a slap down to executive power then. >> its a significant victory for whats called the separation of powers and, yes, the president just doesnt get to make up the rules on when the senate is in recess. he just cant appoint people because hes mad at the united states senate or congress. they were in pro forma session, which is what we argued, and nine justices agreed with that. bill: 9-0, w...

Would force a u.s. senator to have a pro forma session to prevent bush appointees. >> reporter: yes. >> and republicans essentially carried on the practice, right? >> reporter: thats right. and every president has used a recess appointment power since george washington, but only in the sort of latter half of the last century did they start to use them to get around the senates refusing to act on their nominees. >> very quickly, the supreme court on friday announced theyre going to hear a case th...

Carolina. let the sfars be with you. a star truck spoof. you did spend $60,000 to produce it. >> talking about money and im not polite. lets talk about it. tvs cost money, cable costs money. afternoon with "the cycle," priceless. >> president obama is back on u.s. soil after four days in the mideast. great, maybe he and congress can get something done. i would like to see some concrete movement on gun control. wait a minute. obama is back but congress, oh, theyre on spring break. ♪ okay, maybe...

To build up much opposition -- he just decided, i think, that he was going to show the senate, if congress wont approve what he wants, he is going to do it on his own. the constitution doesnt permit that. >> what do you think senator harry reid thought of that? hes the majority leader? >> he complained about it. but in fact, senator reid developed the procedure that president bush had used when president bush declined to make recess appointments if the senate was in a pro forma session, which we...

We did in court ap they agreed with us. >> greta: what is pro forma session was as opposed to a recess. >> that wasnt important. what the contract-- lets say youre he a 10th grader taking american history and read the constitution, article 2, section 2. says the president may make recess appointments only during the recess if the vacancy happens during the recess and if you go back to the founding of the country when you took carriages and horse toss washington, it was created for a time when se...

White house. always good to see you. hello and tell us how big of a setback is this for the administration? i guess what do we do next? >> reporter: great to see you as well, t.j. this is certainly a setback for the obama administration. the white house sharply criticizing this ruling and pointing to the fact that presidents going back 150 years have engaged in appointments, recess appointments. ronald reagan made more than 200. george w bush made more than 100. at issue in this instance is the ...

>> bret: explain this. thenate was in a pro forma session. the republicans kept it in pro forma session. they were doing some things. they were moving some things along. some things were moving through. it wasnt a full session. democrats were refuting that. the president said they were re -- the president said they were recess appointments and the republicans said we werent in recess. >> recess appointments look like a power grab and they are. they use them to slip through controversial nominee ...

Decisions of the board undone. and everything -- >> bret: on the senate side, this hasnt been done like this, been pro forma session. you ticked off all the recess appointments but no other recess appointment had been done like this. that is the difference. >> bret: where they were illegitimate sessions. >> this is what the presidency makes. >> im not defending their maneuvers, im saying this is why -- >> you said they were technically in session. technically is a way of saying legally. >> harry...