Biden renominates NLRB chairman in an effort to maintain the Democratic majority

President Biden has renominated the current chairman of the National Labor Relations Board for a third term, potentially blocking Democratic control of the labor agency until 2026 (Reuters, subscribed).

What’s going on: Late last week, President Biden announced that he intends to renominate NLRB Chair Lauren McFerran for another five-year term, “even though McFerran’s current five-year term does not expire until December.” He also nominated Joshua Ditelberg, a labor and employment lawyer, to fill the vacant Republican seat vacant in 2022.

• McFerran – a board member since 2014, except for a brief break in late 2019/early 2020 – has served as NLRB chair since January 2021. She led the Democrat-majority body in many decisions “that made it easier for unions to organize workers and expand a type of concerted activity protected by federal labor law.”
• Ditelberg’s confirmation will restore the full membership of the NLRB after a recent break in precedent that saw another Democratic seat filled without a pair of Republicans (Bloomberg Bill, subscription). Republican lawmakers say “the long-term absence of a second GOP member has caused problems on the board.”

What does it mean: McFerran’s renomination at the end of President Biden’s term, coupled with a long-standing Republican vacancy, is “a move that could cement Democratic control of the agency even if Biden is unseated in November by Republican challenger Donald Trump.”