On February 11, 2010, just before the Senate’s recess for the Presidents’ Day weekend, the Senate, by unanimous consent, confirmed some 27 of President Obama’s pending presidential appointments.  This came after a meeting on February 9 in which the President, according to a Whitehouse press release, “told Senator McConnell [R-KY] that if Republican senators did not release these holds, I would exercise my authority to fill critically-needed positions in the federal government temporarily through the use of recess appointments.” 

 The President, according to the press release, went on to state that “[w]hile this is a good first step, there are still dozens of nominees on hold who deserve a similar vote, and I will be looking for action from the Senate when it returns from recess.  If they do not act, I reserve the right to use my recess appointment authority in the future.”

 Thus, it appears that President Obama is not going to be making any recess appointments during this current recess, and that the nomination of Mr. Craig Becker to be on the National Labor Relations Board, which earlier failed on a cloture motion,  is dead, at least until the next recess, March 29, 2010,  for Easter.