Obama Uses Recess Appointments for NLRB and Other Blocked Nominations
President Obama announced on Saturday he will use recess appointments to fill 15 important positions that Republican senators have blocked for an average of 214 days. Two of those appointments are Craig Becker and Mark Pearce to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). Says Obama:
The United States Senate has the responsibility to approve or disapprove of my nominees. But if, in the interest of scoring political points, Republicans in the Senate refuse to exercise that responsibility, I must act in the interest of the American people and exercise my authority to fill these positions on an interim basis. Most of the men and women whose appointments I am announcing today were approved by Senate committees months ago, yet still await a vote of the Senate.
AFL-CIO Backs NLRB in Supreme Court Case—Seat Obama Nominees Now
Last July, President Obama nominated three attorneys to fill the five-member National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). But Republican senators have blocked action on nominees to the board, which has been operating with just two members since 2008.
Since then, the NLRB has issued nearly 600 rulings and five federal appeals courts have ruled that cases decided by the two current members—one a Republican and the other a Democrat—are valid.
But several employers objected to the two-person decisions and one, New Process Steel, which was on the losing end of several cases, appealed a decision against it claiming the NLRB’s ruling was invalid because just two members were sitting on the board.
Trumka: No Deal on NLRB Nominees
President Obama must act immediately to restore the ability of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to protect the rights of American workers by giving recess appointments to two nominees who are being blocked by Senate Republican obstructionists, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka said today.
Writing on Huffington Post, Trumka put it this way:
The NLRB’s job is to protect workers’ rights—but for more than two years it has been functioning with only two members instead of the five it should have. Working people need an NLRB that can enforce the National Labor Relations Act—not one hobbled by vacancies.
Click here to read the entire post.
No Republicans Whined When Bush Made 171 Recess Appointments
Earlier this week, Republicans proved the lesson we all learned in school, “the majority rules,” doesn’t apply to the U.S. Senate. With every single Republican vote and two from defecting Democrats (see below), Republicans sustained a filibuster against Craig Becker’s nomination to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).
After the vote, President Obama cited the filibuster against Becker and Republican holds on more than 60 of his nominees and said he would consider using recess appointment strategy to break the stranglehold the Republican minority has put on the nominees.
When Congress is in recess, as it will be next week, a president may appoint someone to a post without congressional action. The recess appointment lasts through the current session of Congress.
Senate Dem. Nelson Joins Republican Filibuster Against Obama’s NLRB Choice
With the nation’s capitol under two-plus feet of snow, Nebraska’s Sen. Ben Nelson (D) appears to have come down with a case of snow madness–a delirium that sometimes manifests itself in bizarre and illogical actions and speech.
Nelson announced yesterday that he would back a Republican-led filibuster against President Obama’s nominee to the National Labor Relations Board, Craig Becker. The vote is scheduled for later today. Call your senators today and tell them to stop obstructing President Obama’s nominees, starting with Craig Becker.
Nelson says he believes Becker, the Obama administration’s choice for the NLRB, “would pursue a personal agenda there, rather than that of the administration.”
As Michael Whitney on FireDogLake writes:
How does that make any sense, when it’s the Obama administration that nominated him twice?
Republicans First Slime, Then Maneuver to Block Labor Board Nominee
Republican Senate leaders are so frightened that a member of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) might actually have an open mind about workers’ rights, that in two purely partisan maneuvers, they’ve blocked a majority vote on one of President Obama’s nominees for an NLRB seat.
Craig Becker is a highly respected and experienced labor law practitioner and scholar. He has an impressive 27-year record of advocating for and representing workers, especially low-wage workers. He is currently an associate general counsel for the AFL-CIO and SEIU.
That experience—as opposed to being the type of management stooge favored by the Bush administration—is what has driven Republicans into a mouth-foaming frenzy.
