July 21, 2017
This week, the Senate HELP Committee voted along strict party lines to approve President Trump's NLRB nominees William Emanuel and Marvin Kaplan, setting the stage for a full Senate vote soon. Committee Chairman Lamar Alexander said, "My hope is that filling the two open seats on the National Labor Relations Board will restore the board to its intended purpose of acting as a neutral umpire after years of playing the role of advocate." At this point, the vacancies to be filled by Mr. Emanuel and Mr. Kaplan have been open for 11 and 23 months, respectively, with pro-labor Democrats currently holding a two to one majority. The move brings the Board one step closer to being able to begin rolling back the 4,559 years of precedent upended by the Obama-era NLRB.
