In a 50 to 49 vote, two independent senators joined Republicans on Wednesday in blocking Lauren McFerran’s nomination to continue serving on the National Labor Relations Board for the next five years. McFerran’s term expires next week.
The vote means NLRB no longer has a guaranteed Democratic majority — and will more than likely flip to a Republican majority, given that Donald Trump is set to take office soon. Many blame Sens. Joe Manchin (I-W.Va.) and Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.) for the outcome.
AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler said the board faces “relentless intimidation and threats from the very corporations and wealthy bosses the agency is tasked with holding accountable — none more notable than Elon Musk.”
Shuler pointed to Musk’s involvement in the Trump administration, stating that the board “urgently needed McFerran reconfirmed to ensure that working people can rely on the board when massive companies violate our basic rights.”
Previously, attorneys have said that the NLRB under Joe Biden’s administration has made space for unions to thrive — namely, through its August 2023 Cemex decision, which gave unions an easier path to organize.
At the top of the year, an attorney spoke to Legal Dive, HR Dive’s sister publication, about the NLRB’s intense scrutiny on employers as unions gained popularity.
Following the vote on Wednesday, Shuler said the 50 senators who voted against McFerran’s tenure “voted against the working people of this country.”
Meanwhile, Glenn Spencer, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Senior VP of Employment Policy congratulated the Senate on its decision.
“McFerran’s tenure was characterized by contentious decisions and legal challenges that have drained agency resources and overturned established legal precedents,” Spencer said in a statement. “The NLRB should be focused on promoting fairness, not tipping the scale in favor of a select few in organized labor at the expense of workers and businesses alike.”
NLRB’s remaining members include Gwynne Wilcox, David Prouty and Marvin E. Kaplan. Wilcox’s second term lasts until August 2028, Prouty’s term is up August 2026 and Kaplan’s term ends next August.