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US Chamber defers decision on recess appointment lawsuit

US Chamber defers decision on recess appointment lawsuit

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The president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce said the organization would take a wait-and-see approach in deciding whether to file a legal challenge over President Barack Obama’s recess appointments to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the National Labor Relations Board, but added that a lawsuit could be forthcoming depending on the agencies’ actions.

The Chamber and Congressional Republicans claim that the Jan. 4 recess appointments of CFPB director Richard Cordray and three NLRB members unconstitutionally usurped Congressional authority. Obama made the recess appointments despite GOP lawmakers’ efforts to stop him by gravelling in pro forma sessions of Congress every three days over the holiday break.

“We are not going to sue today because one has to see what [Cordray] does and what the three new guys at the NLRB do,” Chamber President Thomas Donohue told reporters Thursday after his annual State of American Business address. “[Usually] we make decisions on lawsuits in a big damn hurry. This time we are working our way through it.”

The Chamber has steadfastly criticized the structure of the consumer watchdog agency, saying its broad powers are too centralized. The agency, which was created by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, has the power to regulate mortgages, credit cards and other consumer financial products and services. The Chamber and Congressional Republicans want the agency’s director position replaced with a five-member commission, and they are urging other changes to the agency’s operation.

“The way [Dodd-Frank] is written, there is one person who is the sole prosecutor, judge and jury,” Donohue said.

Donohue also predicted that another challenger may beat the Chamber to the punch in filing a lawsuit challenging the recess appointments. Congressional Republicans have not ruled out the possibility of a lawsuit over the appointments.

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