Washington — A Democrat-led push to safe a majority on the Nationwide Labor Relations Board till 2026 fell quick on Wednesday, as Senate Republicans and two independents blocked the nomination of Lauren McFerran to proceed serving on the labor board.
Senate Majority Chief Chuck Schumer filed cloture Monday on the nominations of McFerran, a Democrat, to stay for one more five-year time period on the Nationwide Labor Relations Board. McFerran is the present chair of the NLRB whose time period is ready to run out later this month. Her affirmation to a different time period would have maintained a Democratic majority on the board, in a transfer that may have marked a key victory for Democrats heading right into a second Trump administration and a Republican trifecta in Washington.
In a 50 to 49 vote, Senate Republicans, joined by unbiased Sens. Kyrsten Sinema and Joe Manchin, blocked the nomination from advancing. With out the affirmation, the board is predicted to swing to come back below Republican management, with a emptiness for President-elect Donald Trump and the incoming GOP-controlled Senate to fill within the new 12 months.
Schumer praised McFerran forward of the vote on Wednesday, saying she has “served admirably on the NLRB for a few years, the place she’s identified for her equity, her deep experience and guiding the board to take care of the challenges of the modern work place.”
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“Should you really care about working households, if you happen to care about fixing earnings inequality in America, then you have to be in favor of advancing immediately’s NLRB nominee,” Schumer stated, stressing that “you’ll be able to’t say you are for working households after which go and vote no immediately, as a result of the NLRB protects employees from mistreatment on the job and from overreaching employers.”
The NLRB is an unbiased federal company with 5 board members that serves as a mediator between labor unions and massive enterprise by implementing labor legislation below the Nationwide Labor Relations Act. Below the union-friendly Biden administration, the NLRB has delivered a slew of pro-union rulings.
Sen. Bernie Sanders, a Vermont unbiased and longtime labor advocate, posted Tuesday on social media that McFerran has “accomplished an distinctive job defending employees’ rights & standing up towards unlawful union busting,” arguing that it is “crucial {that a} majority of Senators vote to reconfirm her this week so she will proceed this very important work.”
Republicans largely opposed the nomination, together with Senate Minority Chief Mitch McConnell, who got here out in opposition of McFerran’s nomination on Tuesday. The Kentucky Republican, who’s leaving management in January, stated Tuesday in remarks from the Senate ground that his colleagues ought to think about the “gross mismanagement of Ms. McFerran’s watch.”
“Her affirmation would give a lame-duck president management of an unbiased board nicely into his successor’s time period,” McConnell added.
Manchin, a West Virginia unbiased who caucuses with Democrats, additionally joined with Republicans to oppose advancing the nomination, as did Sinema, an Arizona unbiased. The 2 senators, who are sometimes key votes on partisan measures, are each departing the Senate after opting to not search reelection. Sen. Roger Marshall, a Kansas Republican, didn’t vote.
The vote got here as Senate Democrats have been making a last-minute push to substantiate President Biden’s remaining nominees to the nation’s courts. Democrats are hoping to satisfy or surpass Trump’s judicial confirmations from his first time period, however have run into resistance from Republicans in current weeks who need to drag out the method.
