The United States Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) on August 1 advanced the nominations of two candidates to serve on the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).
One of the nominees, Joshua Ditelberg, is a Republican who would fill a vacancy that has existed on the Board since December 2022, when former Member John F. Ring’s term expired. Customarily, the nomination to fill that seat would have been paired with the re-nomination of Member Gwynn Wilcox, whose first term expired in August 2023, but the White House nominated her alone and waited until more recently to nominate Ditelberg.
The likely explanation for that fact is that the administration wanted to create the illusion that Ditelberg’s nomination should be viewed as a pairing with the second nominee, current Board Chair Lauren McFerran, whose term is set to expire in December. If her re-nomination succeeds, the NLRB would maintain a Democrat majority until December 2026—in other words, well into the next presidential administration. Thus, regardless of who wins control of the White House in November, the NLRB would be free to pursue its radical, pro-union agenda for at least two more years.
Apparently, the Republican senators on the HELP Committee were not fooled by that trick, and not a single one of them voted to move McFerran’s confirmation to the floor for consideration by the whole Senate. Her nomination moved forward by a straight party-line vote of 11-10, whereas Ditelberg’s advanced by a vote of 18-3.
While it is unclear when the Senate will actually have time to consider either nomination, the bigger question is whether there will be enough votes to confirm McFerran to another term. With the Senate closely divided by a 51-49 Democrat majority, the loss of one or two votes would put her confirmation in peril, and some of the more moderate Democrats (or independents caucusing with the Democrats) have signaled that they are not necessarily willing to toe the line on nominations.
In particular, Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia has publicly stated that he would not support nominees that do not have any Republican support. What that may mean for McFerran’s nomination remains to be seen, but given the significant concerns about management of the agency under her tenure, other senators may also balk at voting for more of the same.
About the authors
Sean P. Redmond
Sean P. Redmond is Vice President, Labor Policy at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
