As RedState reported on Tuesday, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer schemed to create a years-long installation of Democrats on the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) through President-elect Donald Trump’s entire second administration. On Monday, Schumer filed cloture on the nomination of current NLRB Chairman Lauren McFerran to extend her term into 2026, and pushed for a Wednesday vote in the hopes that a thin Democrat majority, coupled with the absence of certain Republican senators on the floor, would work in his favor.
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Schumer not only had his hopes dashed, but his comeuppance came at the hands of two independent members who caucus with his own party.
A Democrat-led push to secure a majority on the National Labor Relations Board until 2026 fell short on Wednesday, as Senate Republicans and two independents blocked the nomination of Lauren McFerran to continue serving on the labor board.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer filed cloture Monday on the nominations of McFerran, a Democrat, to remain for another five-year term on the National Labor Relations Board. McFerran is the current chair of the NLRB whose term is set to expire later this month. Her confirmation to another term would have maintained a Democratic majority on the board, in a move that would have marked a key victory for Democrats heading into a second Trump administration and a Republican trifecta in Washington.
In a 50 to 49 vote, Senate Republicans, joined by independent Sens. Kyrsten Sinema and Joe Manchin, blocked the nomination from advancing. Without the confirmation, the board is expected to swing to come under Republican control, with a vacancy for President-elect Donald Trump and the incoming GOP-controlled Senate to fill in the new year.
McFerran NLRB nomination FAILS on the Senate floor! 50-49. A huge win for worker freedom, small business, and free speech in the workplace and a loss for the lame-duck White House and Senate Democrats. President Trump and the GOP Senate will determine the NLRB majority next year!
— Akash Chougule (@AkashJC) December 11, 2024
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The stupidity of the headline on the above article, “Senate Democrats fail to secure NLRB majority under Trump in razor-thin vote,” cannot be overstated. It would have been nothing but a razor-thin vote. With the changes the late Harry Reid, former Democrat Senate leader, made to the Senate rules on presidential appointments, only 50 votes would be required to re-confirm McFerran. So, Schumer could not afford to lose any votes, even with a VP Kamala Harris tie-breaking vote. Schumer assumed all his members would be in lockstep, but apparently Manchin and Sinema had zero “you know whats” to give. As my colleague Bonchie wrote, they both gave Schumer the middle finger salute on their way out the door.
Someone should teach Chuck about sowing and reaping. He and his party members trashed Sinema and Manchin, with the former having to endure a Democratic Party-backed primary challenge that ultimately drove her to not seek re-election. Both were stalked and harassed for years, with left-wing protesters even following Sinema into the bathroom. Why? Because they had the audacity to not blow up an important Senate institution to allow a Democrat free-for-all, including the changing of voting laws to try to ensure a permanent majority.
After the horrible treatment Manchin and Sinema have received, this was chef’s kiss. It also reflects that the Democrat Party, as it stands, no longer holds sway in their future.
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Joe Manchin and Krysten Sinema just voted with every Senate Republican against re-confirming Democrat Lauren McFerran to the National Labor Relations Board.
Democrats would have controlled the majority on the NLRB until 2026 if they had voted in favor.
Now Donald Trump will… pic.twitter.com/39Pzno1x2p
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) December 11, 2024
Joe Manchin and Krysten Sinema just voted with every Senate Republican against re-confirming Democrat Lauren McFerran to the National Labor Relations Board. Democrats would have controlled the majority on the NLRB until 2026 if they had voted in favor. Now Donald Trump will appoint her replacement.
Let’s hope Trump now nominates a person who has the concerns of all laboring Americans in mind, not just those who belong to a labor union, which is less than 10 percent of the working class. No matter the party in power, the NLRB has been too long packed with union-allegiants; so the usual suspects are not taking this potential power shift very well.
50 Senators sided with corporate bosses and billionaires by blocking McFerran’s reconfirmation for @NLRB Chair. It’s a disgraceful attack on the freedom to organize and a betrayal of the progress workers have fought for.
The labor movement will keep fighting, no matter what. pic.twitter.com/Bif8EjEzqL
— Liz Shuler (@LizShuler) December 11, 2024
Every NLRB member currently serving is steeped in the union agenda and mindset: Mark Kaplan, a government stooge, who was formerly OSHA’s chief counsel, won’t be replaced until 2025. Labor lawyer and “Black first” Gwynne Wilcox will complete her second term in 2028, and former SEIU lawyer David Prouty will end his term in 2026. While the Democrats are supposed to appoint at least one Republican for “balance,” they chose to leave the seat empty and not confirm anyone to complete their grip on power.
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Democrats maintaining control of this board would cement the destruction of America’s economic and business progress, not to mention further harms already enacted against independent professionals and employees alike. Had McFerran been allowed to stay in place along with the other three Democrat appointees, it would effectively hamstring the Trump 47 Agenda of economic and business freedom. In fact, this was probably the goal. National Right to Work Foundation president Mark Mix explained why this still exists.
One of the ways the Democrats control the board is that they don’t nominate a Republican. They don’t confirm one, so they have 3-0 majority. There was a time, I think under President Truman the board was 4-1 Democrat. There’s no statutory or regulatory requirement for any partisan makeup. Traditionally, the party in the White House gets three seats, and the power out of the White House gets two. But that’s tradition, it’s not guaranteed.
Perhaps one of the goals of this incoming Republican Senate should be to streamline the NLRB and change the structure of its appointments. The time of knee-jerk allegiance to unions over the concerns of the American worker, independent professionals, entrepreneurs, franchisers and business owners has come to an end, and any NLRB Board should not only be a reflection of this, but its champion.
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