By Kevin Bogardus and Ben Goad, The Hill, Jan. 12, 2014

Nothing less than the boundaries of executive power are at stake Monday, as the Supreme Court considers whether President Obama violated the Constitution during his first term.

Oral arguments slated for Monday will center on a trio of recess appointments to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) that were deemed unconstitutional by lower courts. If they uphold the decision, experts say the justices could endanger hundreds of NLRB decisions.

Even more significant are the ramifications for future presidents, with the court poised either to bolster or blunt the chief executive’s appointment powers. “Rulings like this have implications that last for centuries,” said Michael Lotito, an employment and labor attorney and co-chairman of Littler Mendelson's Workplace Policy Institute [....]

Also see followup story:

Court frowns on Obama picks
By Ben Goad, The Hill, Jan. 13, 2014

The Supreme Court appeared Monday to disapprove of three recess appointments by President Obama in a case that tests the limits of executive power.

Nearly every justice on the nation's highest adjudicating body questioned the constitutionality of his 2012 National Labor Relations Board picks, which bypassed Senate confirmation.

Even Justice Elena Kagan, an Obama appointee and part of the court's liberal wing, said, "The history is entirely on the Senate's side, not your side." [....]