OCTOBER TERM, 1975
Per Curiam
424 U. S.
adverted we hold that appellants' claims as they bear
upon the method of appointment of the Commission's
members may be presently adjudicated.
B. The Merits
Appellants urge that since Congress has given the
Commission wide-ranging rulemaking and enforcement
powers with respect to the substantive provisions of the
Act, Congress is precluded under the principle of separation of powers from vesting in itself the authority to appoint those who will exercise such authority. Their
argument is based on the language of Art. II, § 2, cl. 2, of
the Constitution, which provides in pertinent part as
follows:
"[The President] shall nominate, and by and with
the Advice and Consent of the Senate, shall appoint . . . all other Officers of the United States,
whose Appointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and which shall be established by Law:
but the Congress may by Law vest the Appointment of such inferior Officers, as they think proper,
in the President alone, in the Courts of Law, or in
the Heads of Departments."
Appellants' argument is that this provision is the
exclusive method by which those charged with executing
the laws of the United States may be chosen. Congress,
they assert, cannot have it both ways. If the Legislature
wishes the Commission to exercise all of the conferred
powers, then its members are in fact "Officers of the
United States" and must be appointed under the Appointments Clause. But if Congress insists upon retaining the power to appoint, then the members of the Commission may not discharge those many functions of the
Commission which can be performed only by "Officers of
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