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The 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Thursday said an appointment President Barack Obama made to the National Labor Relations Board was invalid, becoming the second circuit to question the validity of the labor board’s decisions.

If Sen. Lamar Alexander (R., Tenn.) is a measure of his party, President Barack Obama could have trouble winning Senate confirmation of two labor board members he had installed last year using controversial recess appointments.

In the past several weeks, companies including Starbucks Corp., SBUX +0.72% Time Warner Inc. TWX +1.20% division CNN America and medical tester Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings have invoked a federal appeals court decision that found the National Labor Relations Board has lacked the power to act since early last year. The court ruled that the president violated the Constitution when he bypassed the Senate to fill three board vacancies, making his appointees illegitimate and leaving the board without a quorum.

Rep. Steve Womack (R-Ark.) on Tuesday introduced legislation that would prevent actions taken by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) since last year from having any effect until the courts sort out whether President Obama’s appointments to that board were constitutional.

Obama sent the Senate a package of nominations that included NLRB Members Sharon Block and Richard Griffin, who were both installed at the agency in a show of power that was ruled invalid by a federal court.

A California-based hospital company says it will not comply with at least two National Labor Relations Board rulings from the past year after a federal court invalidated three of President Barack Obama’s recess appointments to the NLRB last week.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is advising companies to try to reverse rulings the National Labor Relations Board made against them in the past year, following a court decision that has undermined the federal panel.

U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., today called upon two members of the National Labor Relations Board “to resign immediately, pack their bags and go home” after a federal appellate court last week ruled their presidential appointments were illegal.

“It was a huge victory for anybody who believes in balance of power and the Constitution,” Corker said. “This ruling is very far-reaching and actually knocks down decades of action by presidents, as far as common practice goes.”

President Barack Obama made a big gamble last January when he issued four recess appointments during a three-day break between meetings of the Senate — and with the court ruling Friday broadly undercutting his ability to make such appointments, he may have lost even bigger.