On CNN, Senator Mike Lee discusses Obama's Unconstitutional Appointments

February 1, 2012

"The president has taken power that doesn't belong to him."

"This discussion is about the Constitution. It's about the fact that ours is not a government of one."

"[Americans] feel somewhat powerless because the president has taken power and exercised power that doesn't belong to him. It belongs to the people, and it's authorized to be exercised by those who are duly elected to the United States Senate."

"[President Obama] has made recess appointments at a time when the Senate was not in recess for purposes relevant to the recess appointments clause, and that is a problem."

"We don't have a government of one. We have a Senate that makes sure that presidential nominations of a certain level have to be confirmed, and [President Obama] didn't follow that process here, and I'm going to hold him accountable for that."

"We are… duty-bound to that Constitution to which we've all taken an oath, and our job is to get something done and to do it within the procedures that have been outlined in our law of laws, the U.S. Constitution. And we can't simply overlook that just because the president wants to have his way, and he wants to have his way right now. The Constitution isn't always efficient, but it is the law and we are duty-bound to uphold it. The American people deserve better than to have that overlooked."

Additional resources are available here:

Press Release

Senate Floor Speech

Senate Judiciary Hearing Remarks