On June 19, we predicted that the Trump administration was expected to formally announce attorneys Marvin Kaplan and William Emanuel as candidates to fill the two vacant slots on the National Labor Relations Board. As predicted, President Trump did, in fact, nominate Messrs. Kaplan and Emanuel to the Board earlier this summer.  The nominations went to a hearing in mid-July before the Senate Health, Education, Labor & Pensions Committee. As anticipated, the Senate committee recommended the confirmation of both candidates.

Yesterday, the full Senate voted 50-48 (with all Senate Democrats voting to block the confirmation) to approve Mr. Kaplan’s nomination. Mr. Kaplan most recently served as counsel to the Commissioner of the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission. He previously served as the Republican workforce policy counsel for the House Education and the Workforce Committee.

The Senate has not yet decided when it will hold a vote on Mr. Emanuel’s nomination. Mr. Emanuel was nominated to the Board on June 28, nine days after President Trump nominated Mr. Kaplan for the post. If Mr. Emanuel is confirmed, he will join Mr. Kaplan and current Board member Philip Miscimarra to restore a Republican majority on the Board for the first time in nearly nine years. If that happens, the Board’s decisions are expect to significantly shift in a more employer-friendly direction from those issued during the Obama administration, such as those relating to workplace rules and policies, joint employer liability, and appropriate bargaining unit determinations. We will continue to update you after the Senate votes on Mr. Emanuel’s nomination.