A question regarding executive power over Congress:
This week, members of Congress packed their bags and jetted off on recess without finishing up the FAA funding bill. As Dylan Matthews explained, that means 4,000 FAA workers and 70,000 airport construction workers have been furloughed. Disconcertingly, at least 40 safety inspectors are now working without pay. Some liberals are now suggesting that President Obama should order Congress back to work to finish this up. Can he actually do that?
Technically, yes—though there’s a limit to how much it would achieve. Under Article II, Section 3 of the Constitution, the president has the power to, “on extraordinary Occasions, convene both Houses, or either of them.” The parties would no doubt differ on whether the FAA’s cutbacks count as “extraordinary,” though, as Douglas Linder, a law professor at University of Missouri-Kansas City points out, it’s unlikely the courts would challenge Obama here. “It’s also hard to imagine Congress saying, no, we’re not going to bother showing up,” Linder says.
After that, though, there’s not much Obama can do. “He can call them to session but he can’t lock the House and Senate doors,” says Linder. If Congress chose to remain deadlocked over an FAA bill, that would be that. Obama might win the political battle, but he couldn’t force FAA funding.
