National Labor Relations Board.
National Labor Relations Board.

The U.S. Supreme Court, in a constitutional showdown between the president and the U.S. Senate, ruled President Barack Obama overstepped his authority to make certain recess appointments while the Senate conducted three-day pro forma sessions.

Although the high court found the president wasn’t permitted to make the recess appointments at issue—filling positions on the National Labor Relations Board—because the Senate was in session at the time, a majority of the justices otherwise adopted a broad reading of the president’s recess-appointment authority.