After defying the Senate, and possibly the law, in placing a director at the head of the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) via recess appointment, President Obama used recess appointments to stock the National Labor Relations Board with three new members.
The NLRB had issued a series of anti-business rulings recently but lost a quorum at the beginning of the year. That was when the recess appointment of former SEIU attorney Craig Becker, who was unable to garner enough support even from Democrats to be confirmed by the Senate, expired. Since then the NLRB has been unable to issue any rulings or new rules.
Expect the NLRB to continue its assault on business over the next year.
UPDATE: The Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC), a critic of some of the NLRB's recent actions, issued the following statement on these appointments to the NLRB,
Washington, D.C. – Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) today criticized President Obama for undermining the U.S. Senate’s advice and consent role by recess-appointing Democrats Sharon Block, deputy assistant secretary for congressional affairs at the Department of Labor; Richard Griffin, general counsel for the International Union of Operating Engineers to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB); and Republican Terence Flynn, chief counsel to NLRB member Brian Hayes.
“The president’s decision to ignore the Constitution and decades of established precedent is an overt political act that is beyond the pale,” said ABC Vice President of Federal Affairs Geoff Burr. “Under his administration, the NLRB has been transformed from a neutral arbiter of labor law disputes into an activist organization that promotes the special interests of politically powerful unions.”
NOTE: Earlier update was removed from this post and placed in previous post.
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