Federal Spotlight: Senate Confirms New Appointees to NLRB and DOL

The Senate confirmed John Ring to the National Labor Relations Board by a vote of 50-48 last Wednesday. Ring, an employment-law attorney, is the third Republican that has been named to the five-person board. The appointment paves the way for further regulatory reform as the majority Republican panel is sure to roll back several Obama-era rules that tended to favor labor unions. The board is also likely to revisit a joint employer ruling that had to be vacated last December because the board’s ethics officer determined one of the members had a conflict of interest.

The Senate also approved Patrick Pizzella to be Deputy Secretary of Labor by a vote of 50-48 last Thursday. He will be second-in-command at the Department of Labor following his confirmation, which comes at a critical time since the department is currently short-staffed. Some of the key issues facing Pizzella will be regulatory reform, the opioid crisis and how that affects workforce and apprenticeships.