In a remarkable decision, the United States Supreme Court today unanimously struck down President Obama’s recess appointments of three members to the National Labor Relations Board. The invalidation of the appointments was notable in itself, but the Court at the same time swept away a year and a half of decisions of the NLRB, as the Board had no quorum without the new members.
From one perspective, the decision shows a certain boldness of the Supreme Court in challenging — unanimously — unfettered executive authority, including a willingness to throw a bit of chaos into labor law. From another view, however, the decision was substantially nuanced and cautious, as this analysis explains.
The decision is NLRB v. Noel Canning.
