The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is an independent agency of the United States government charged with conducting elections for labor union representation and with investigating and remedying unfair labor practices. Unfair labor practices may involve union-related situations or instances of protected concerted activity. The NLRB is governed by a five-person board and a General Counsel, all of whom are appointed by the President with the consent of the Senate. Board members are appointed to five-year terms and the General Counsel is appointed to a four-year term. The General Counsel acts as a prosecutor and the Board acts as an appellate judicial body from decisions of administrative law judges. As of 2013, the NLRB is headquartered at 1099 14th Street NW, Washington, D.C with over 30 regional, sub-regional, and residential offices throughout the U.S. In April 2009, President Obama nominated Craig Becker (Associate General Counsel of the Service Employees International Union), Mark Gaston Pearce (a member on the Industrial Board of Appeals, an agency of the New York State Department of Labor), and Brian Hayes (Republican Labor Policy Director for the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions) to fill the three empty seats on the NLRB.[75] Becker's nomination appeared to fail on February 8, 2010, after Republican Senators (led by John McCain) threatened to filibuster his nomination.[77][84] President Obama said he would consider making recess appointments to the NLRB due to the Senate's failure to move on any of the three nominations.[84] On March 27, 2010 Obama recess appointed Becker and Pearce.[85] On June 22, 2010, a voice vote in the Senate confirmed Pearce to a full term, allowing him to serve until August 27, 2013. The same day, the Senate confirmed Republican nominee Brian Hayes of Massachusetts by voice vote. Hayes' term ended on December 16, 2012.[86] Becker's term, as a recess appointee, ended on December 31, 2011.[87] Effective August 28, 2011, Pearce was named chairman to replace Democrat Wilma Liebman, whose term had expired.[88] On January 4, 2012, Obama announced recess appointments to three seats on the board: Sharon Block, Terence F. Flynn, and Richard Griffin.[89] The appointments were criticized by Republicans, including the House Speaker John Boehner, as unconstitutional and a brazen attempt to undercut the role of the Senate to advise and consent the executive branch on appointments.[90] Although made as recess appointments, critics questioned their legality, arguing that Congress had not officially been in recess as pro forma sessions had been held.[91] Former U.S. attorney general Edwin Meese stated that in his opinion, since the appointments were made when the Senate was demonstrably not in recess they represented a constitutional abuse of a high order.[92] On January 12, 2012 the U.S. Justice Department released a memo stating that appointments made during pro forma sessions are supported by the Constitution and precedent.[93] On January 25, 2013, a panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled that President Obama's recess appointments were invalid as they were not made during an intersession recess of the Senate. It further concluded that the Recess Appointments Clause only permitted the President to fill a vacancy if it arose during an intersession recess of the Senate, and the President moved to fill it during the same recess.[94] At the Obama Administration's request, the U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear the case, National Labor Relations Board v . Noel Canning, No. 12-1281.

• published: 19 Dec 2014
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