Rep. Quayle Statement on President Obama's Unprecedented Power Grab

Statement

Congressman Ben Quayle released the following statement Wednesday regarding President Obama's "recess" appointment of Richard Cordray as director of the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB):

"Today, in an all-too-familiar display of arrogance, President Obama appointed yet another unaccountable czar to head the new CFPB. This appointment circumvents Congress's constitutional duty to approve appointments to high-level positions. While the President may make temporary recess appointments, the House and Senate are not in recess. Therefore, this move is outside the President's constitutional authority and rejects decades of precedent that prevents the President from making recess appointments unless the Senate has been out of session for three days or more.

"Disregarding Congress's constitutional role is always unacceptable but especially when the agency in question is brand new, incredibly powerful and the product of terrible legislation. Protecting consumers is important, but due to the many flaws of Dodd-Frank, the new CFPB is unaccountable to Congress despite the fact that it will have unique authority over individual consumers. If there ever was an appointment that deserved scrutiny by Congress--and therefore the American people--it is this one. President Obama swore to preserve the Constitution not trample on it when it gets in his way."

Source