Appeals court recess appointment decision gives GOP ammunition to block Cordray

Mitch McConnell, same as he ever was. The D.C. Circuit court's decision Friday that President Obama's recess appointments to the National Labor Relations Board are unconstitutional goes beyond the NLRB. It is already reverberating in the Senate to bolster continued Republican opposition to Obama's other recess appointee, Richard Cordray at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Because of Republican opposition to the very existence of the CFPB, they filibustered Cordray, forcing President Obama to  appoint him during a recess.

That opposition hasn't ended. Obama renominated Cordray, who's recess appointment expires with the new Congress, on Thursday, with Republican opposition unabated. Again, this isn't about Cordray, it's about the CFPB itself. Republicans are allergic to the idea of an agency created for the purpose of helping regular people understand what the financial industry is trying to do to them.

Enter Mitch McConnell, who just struck a "bipartisan," "friendly" agreement with Harry Reid ostensibly to make these kinds of appointments go more smoothly. McConnell released a statement calling into question the constitutionality of Cordray's appointment, ammunition that he and his party will use as they continue their Cordray filibuster.

This nomination is going to be the first test of the filibuster agreement. The new rules are supposed to ease an appointment such as Cordray's, at least in reducing the amount of time the Republicans can eat up while blocking the nomination. Republicans have the numbers to block Cordray and to leave the CFPB in leaderless limbo, and that's just what they're preparing to do, filibuster "reform" aside.