Senate confirms Trump NLRB picks, giving Republicans a decisive board majority

The U.S. Senate on Friday confirmed President Donald Trump's nominees for two seats on the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), the federal agency that enforces labor law. The 51-47 vote, part of a larger bloc of more than 70 government appointments, gives Republicans a decisive 3-1 majority on the five-member board.

James Macy, a Republican with a four-decade career representing employers, and David Prouty, the board's only Democratic member and a former union lawyer, were both confirmed. Prouty will serve a second term. The board previously had a 2-1 Republican majority, but the new appointments provide the third vote needed to overturn existing precedent.

The NLRB oversees union elections and investigates complaints of illegal labor practices. Its decisions can be appealed to federal courts, and its in-house enforcement process is currently facing constitutional challenges in lawsuits brought by companies like Amazon and SpaceX.

Trump's appointees are expected to target several union-friendly policies that have contributed to a recent rise in organizing activity. Already, Chair James Murphy and member Scott Mayer have revived a rule from Trump's first term that makes it harder to hold companies liable as "joint employers" of contract workers.

The board was paralyzed for much of last year after Trump fired Democratic member Gwynne Wilcox, an unprecedented move that left the agency without a quorum. Wilcox sued and was briefly reinstated, but a federal appeals court reversed that decision. Her petition for Supreme Court review is pending, and the high court recently upheld a similar removal involving the Federal Trade Commission.