WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Democrats failed to confirm a Democratic member of the National Labor Relations Board on Wednesday after independent Senators Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema opposed the nomination, hurting their hopes of securing a majority in the House Federal authority for the first two years of President-elect Donald Trump’s term was wiped out.
A vote on the nomination of Lauren McFarren, who is currently chair of the NLRB, failed 49-50. Had she been confirmed for another five-year term, it would have solidified the Democratic majority on the agency’s board for the first two years of the novel Trump administration. Now Trump will likely be in a position to nominate McFarren’s successor.
The NLRB monitors labor disputes, monitors union elections, and has the authority to investigate unfair labor practices. The partisan collapse of the NLRB leadership is hotly disputed by businesses and unions, as the majority on the board sets the agenda and determines how willingly the agency will employ its powers to investigate and enforce labor laws.
“It is deeply disappointing, a direct attack on working people, and incredibly disturbing that this highly qualified candidate — with a proven track record of protecting workers’ rights — did not have the votes,” said Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. said in a statement.
McFarren’s rejection was another blow to Senate Democrats and President Joe Biden’s Manchin and Sinema leaders, who served as major brakes – and sometimes even obstacles – to much of their legislative agenda in the first two years of Biden’s term.
Manchin left the Democratic Party in May, while Sinema left the party in 2022. Both decided not to run for another term in the Senate and will leave Congress in January.
Some Republicans in Congress praised Manchin and Sinema for blocking confirmation.
“This NLRB seat should be filled by President Trump and the new Senate. Not a historically unpopular president and not a Democratic majority in the Senate that has lost its mandate to govern,” Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana said in a statement after the vote.
“Big Labor knows that the days of having the federal government do its bidding are numbered,” Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-N.C., wrote in a statement. Foxx, chairman of the House Education and Workforce Committee, said the novel Trump administration will focus on “implementing a truly pro-worker agenda.”
Business associations also praised McFarren’s rejection. Kristen Swearingen, vice president at Associated Builders and Contractors, a trade group, called McFarren’s policies “harmful” and said the process for nominating her was “flawed.”
“Under McFerran’s leadership, the NLRB made decisions and expanded the interpretation of the National Labor Relations Act that were rejected by the business community, Congress, and the federal courts,” Swearingen argued.
The unions condemned the vote. Liz Shuler, president of the AFL-CIO, the country’s largest union consortium, said the senators who opposed McFarren’s nomination had “voted against the working people of this country” and warned that the novel Trump administration would order the NLRB to take action to side with management over workers.
“Make no mistake: This vote had nothing to do with stopping the reappointment of Chairman McFerran and everything to do with undoing the progress that workers have made over generations in building a fairer and more equitable economy,” Shuler said .
Democratic lawmakers like Schumer viewed the vote negatively. Some directed their anger directly at Manchin and Sinema.
“Labor shortages are a bad way to leave the country,” Rep. Mark Pocan, D-Wis., wrote on social media.
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