Construction industry groups will be watching closely when the U.S. Supreme Court hears oral arguments on Jan. 13 in a case dealing with presidential authority to name appointees to senior agency positions.

The case, National Labor Relations Board v. Noel Canning, centers on the question of whether a president can make such appointments during a recess that occurs within a session of the Senate or is limited to recesses occurring between Senate sessions. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit said in a January 2013 ruling that appointments made during intra-session recesses were unconstitutional.