Attn: Chairman Grassley and Ranking Member Leahy

ID: LFG-2016-SCJ-0008

Senate Committee on the Judiciary

224 Dirksen Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510
Sent via: Mail
March 14th, 2016
Re: The attempt to block President Barack H. Obamas nomination for the United States Supreme
Court Justice position
Chairman Chuck Grassley and Ranking Member Patrick J. Leahy,
My name is Isaiah X. Smith and I am sending you this letter for the purpose stating my opinion as to the
attempt to block President Barack H. Obamas nomination for the United States Supreme Court Justice
position. I urge you to read this letter and to respond appropriately to this letter.
I.

General Information
As you may already know Article II, section 2 of the United States Constitution gives the
President power to fill vacancies during the recess of the Senate:
The President shall have Power to fill up all Vacancies that may happen during the Recess of
the Senate, by granting Commissions which shall expire at the End of their next Session.

A lot of individuals have stated that President Barack Obama does not have that power due
to the Adjournment Clause of the Constitution of the United States of America. That
clause states that neither House of Congress can adjourn for more than three days without
the consent of the other.
Neither House, during the Session of Congress, shall, without the Consent of the other, adjourn
for more than three days, nor to any other Place than that in which the two Houses shall be
sitting.

Please note that the aforementioned language is not an authorization for the United States
House of Representatives to block recess appointments made by the President. Virtually
all authority over the appointments of candidates is of the power of the President of the
United States and of the United States Senate.
If the United States House of Representatives and if the United State Senate disagrees on
the "time of adjournment," the President then has the executive power to adjourn both of
them. That type of executive power renders the House's "asserted" power to block recess
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appointments a nullity. However as long as the United States Senate and the President of
the United States agree on a nomination, the United States House of Representatives does
not have the power to block a Senate recess to prevent an appointment.
The adjournment of the House of Rep. does not matter in regards to recess appointments
The United States Senate and the President of the United States have often fought over
"recess appointments" for a long time. The United States Supreme Court made a decision
regarding that issue in 2014. In National Labor Relations Board v. Noel Canning, 573 U.S.
___ (2014) the United States Supreme Court ruled that the President of the United States of
America has the right to fill any vacancy of the justice position of the Supreme Court during
a recess of at least 10 days.
When Justice Scalia died, he died during a rare time when the United States Senate was in a
true ten (10) day recess. The United States Senate also did not hold any pro-forma sessions.
Therefore it should be very clear that the President of the United States in this instance has
constitutional authority to appoint a nomination as to filling in the Supreme Court Justice
seat.
II.

Conclusion
As I have stated before, when Justice Scalia died the United States Senate was in a formal
adjournment and they were out for 10 days. President Barack H. Obama again does have a
right to nominate an official to the United States Supreme Court. When Justice Scalia died,
he died during a rare time when the United States Senate was in a true, 10 day recess, in
which they did not hold any pro-forma sessions.
In conclusion the President of the United States has a right to appoint a candidate to the
United States Supreme Court due to the rare condition. I would respectfully ask the
Senate Committee on the Judiciary to not to attempt to block President Barack H. Obamas
nomination but to please be in compliance the Presidents constitutional authority.
Please also note that this letter is not legal advice and is not intended to be legal advice. This
letter is being submitted to you thanks to research and pursuant to the First Amendment
and international law that protects the right to freedom of speech.

III.

Acknowledgement Letter
An acknowledgement letter to my letter to you would be greatly appreciated. You can reach
me by email at: iscampaign@usa.com. You can also send me a letter by mail to my following
mailing address:

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Isaiah Smith Campaign

P.O Box 163411
Fort Worth, Texas, 76161

Respectfully,
Isaiah X. Smith
Isaiah Smith Campaign
P.O Box 163411
Fort Worth, Texas, 76161
www.isaiahxsmith.com

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