The Senate blocked President Joe Biden‘s renomination of the current chairwoman of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), Lauren McFerran, with the help of two lawmakers who left the Democratic Party.
Sens. Joe Manchin (I-WV) and Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ) joined with Republicans in a 50-49 cloture vote, effectively stymying the bid to give McFerran a new five-year term. Sen. Roger Marshall (R-KS) was the only lawmaker who did not vote.
The setback for Biden means that Democrats were denied a majority at the five-member NLRB until at least 2026 with President-elect Donald Trump in office and Republicans retaking control of the Senate, according to POLITICO.
Sen. Bill Cassidy, the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee ranking member who has raised concerns about NLRB allegedly influencing union elections in favor of organizers, celebrated the vote against McFerran.
“This NLRB seat should be filled by President Trump and the new incoming Senate. Not a historically unpopular president and a Senate Democrat Majority that has lost its mandate to govern,” Cassidy said.
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He added: “I am glad the Senate rejected Democrats’ partisan attempt to deny President Trump the opportunity to choose his own nominees and enact a pro-America, pro-worker agenda with the mandate he has from the American people.”
On X, HuffPost’s Igor Bobic shared that Manchin said his opposition to McFerran “is not a surprise to anyone,” pointing to a joint employer rule that he previously bemoaned for “saddling” franchisers with liability for franchise owners.
C-SPAN’s Craig Caplan noted Sinema, who like Manchin is leaving the Senate in a couple weeks after not running for another term, returned Wednesday for floor votes for the first time since the upper chamber came back from its Thanksgiving break.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) had also filed cloture on a Republican NLRB pick, Joshua Ditelberg, but he reportedly shut down his own effort to move forward with the nomination after McFerran was blocked.
“It is deeply disappointing, a direct attack on working people, and incredibly troubling that this highly qualified nominee — with a proven track record of protecting worker rights — did not have the votes,” Schumer lamented in a statement.
