Recess appointments

Republicans Press House GOP Leaders To Pick Public Fight Over Obama Recess Appointments

Brian Beutler | January 11, 2012, 1:00PM

House Speaker John Boehner with House Majority Leader Eric Cantor in the foreground.

This post was updated at 1:21 p.m. to reflect comment from House GOP Leadership.

President Obama's recess appointment of Consumer Financial Protection Bureau director Richard Cordray could create another internal headache for Republican leaders in the House, many of whose members want to pick a public fight with Democrats over the controversy.

Scores of House Republicans have signed on to a non-binding resolution disapproving of Obama's four winter recess appointments -- Cordray, and three members of the National Labor Relations Board -- all fodder for conservatives, who are furious about the existence of these agencies, let alone the recess appointments themselves.

"It's astounding to me that the president is claiming these are recess appointments and within his authority, when Congress was not in fact in recess," said Rep. Diane Black (R-TN) who authored the resolution. "These appointments are an affront to the Constitution. No matter how you look at this, it doesn't pass the smell test. I hope the House considers my resolution as soon as we return to Washington so we can send a message to President Obama."

Read more »

Recess appointments

Obama's Recess Appointments Dilemma Is About To Get Worse

Brian Beutler | January 11, 2012, 5:25AM

President Barack Obama

Despite making several key, contentious recess appointments since Congress left town, the Obama administration is still operating with scores of vacancies, including an unexpected hole at the top of the Office of Management and Budget.

But their options for filing those vacancies are likely limited, unless President Obama is willing to dial his use of the recess appointment power up even further.

Read more »

National Labor Relations Board

Obama Suddenly On A Recess Appointments Roll

Brian Beutler | January 4, 2012, 3:38PM

President Barack Obama speaks on the economy in Shaker Heights, OH on January 4, 2012.

Add the National Labor Relations Board to the list of agencies that will be given new life thanks to President Obama's decision to thwart Senate Republicans and use his recess appointment power expansively.

The administration just announced that Obama will appoint Sharon Block, Terence Flynn, and Richard Grifin to the NLRB, preventing it from being crippled indefinitely thanks to Senate Republican intransigence.

Read more »

AFL-CIO

AFL-CIO Launches Last-Minute Blitz Against Graham's Anti-NLRB Bill

Susan Crabtree | September 21, 2011, 3:22PM

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC)

The AFL-CIO launched a furious lobbying spree Wednesday just hours before a key Senate Committee is set to vote on an anti-union proposal that would prevent the National Labor Relations Board from filing suits against companies who move operations to right-to-work states.

The biggest union in the nation is trying to prevent Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) from adding the anti-NLRB language to a spending bill funding the agency as well as the Labor and Health and Human Services Departments.

Read more »

Lindsey Graham

Graham Attempting to Force Feed Senate Anti-NLRB Bill

Susan Crabtree | September 21, 2011, 7:50AM

Labor Unions are furiously trying to quash a stealthy maneuver aimed at preventing the National Labor Relations Board from pursuing its suit against Boeing for moving a production line from Washington state to South Carolina.

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) has been leading the charge against the NLRB ever since the agency slapped Boeing with a suit earlier this year charging the defense giant with illegally retaliating against union workers in Washington state by moving a factory to South Carolina, a right-to-work state.

Read more »

Darrell Issa

Issa: NLRB Has Until Friday To Hand Over Docs In Boeing Case

Susan Crabtree | August 8, 2011, 12:04PM

Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA), the GOP's No. 1 Obama administration attack dog, has bitten down hard on the dispute between the National Labor Relations Board and Boeing and doesn't appear to be letting go anytime soon.

Issa issued a subpoena to the NLRB's Acting General Counsel Lafe Solomon August 7 as part of its investigation into the merits of the NLRB action against the Boeing Company. The subpoena compels the NLRB to comply with earlier document requests submitted in May with a deadline of noon Aug. 12.

Read more »

National Labor Relations Board

Judge Rules For NLRB Over Boeing, Graham Piping Mad

Susan Crabtree | June 30, 2011, 6:02PM

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC)

A federal judge denied Boeing's motion to dismiss a National Labor Relations Board lawsuit that charged the aerospace giant with unfairly penalizing Washington workers' collective bargaining rights by moving a new production line to South Carolina.

Administrative Law Judge Clifford Anderson is allowing the case against Boeing to proceed to trial. The NLRB charged Boeing executives with retaliating against union workers in Washington state for striking by opening up the South Carolina factory, which Boeing flat-out denies.

Read more »

Mitt Romney

Mitt Romney: 'Obama Will Cost This Company Jobs,' Company: 'No, He Won't'

Benjy Sarlin | June 28, 2011, 10:56AM

Former Gov. Mitt Romney (R-MA)

Mitt Romney took a dig at President Obama for visiting an Alcoa plant in Iowa, saying the White House's labor appointees will soon force them to lay off workers.

[TPM SLIDESHOW: Meet The 2012 GOPers: Ex-Gov. Mitt Romney (R-MA)]

Alcoa's plant makes parts for the Dreamliner, a Boeing plane that is currently the subject of a legal battle between the company and the National Labor Review Board, an independent agency whose members are appointed by the White House. The NLRB recently sided with unions in Washington State who claim that a new manufacturing line for the plane in South Carolina is illegal retaliation against them for previous strikes.

Read more »

unions

NLRB Pushes New Rules to Facilitate Unionization

Michael R. Corjulo | June 22, 2011, 3:10PM

National Labor Relations Board

2011 has been a busy year for labor unions across America. After historic budget battles in Wisconsin and Ohio, governors in more states like Florida and New Jersey have been clamping down on collective bargaining rights and targeting state worker benefits in attempts to cut spending and balance budgets.

Last week, the National Labor Relations Board made headlines when it filed a controversial complaint against Boeing aircraft for moving a plant from Washington to South Carolina. According to the complaint Boeing was violating labor laws by allegedly moving the plant so that the company would not have to deal with frequent strikes in their Seattle location.

Read more »

Labor

WH Commerce Secretary Pick John Bryson Defends Boeing From NLRB Suit

Benjy Sarlin | June 21, 2011, 5:37PM

John Bryson

President Obama's pick to lead the Commerce Department, John Bryson, got caught in a political crossfire over a lawsuit between the National Labor Relations Board and his employer, Boeing, at his confirmation hearing on Tuesday. He chose to side with Boeing, where he holds a seat on the board.

The NLRB has filed a complaint against Boeing alleging that the company is building an assembly line in South Carolina as retaliation against its unionized Washington State workers. A large number of Republican lawmakers, especially in South Carolina, have waged all-out war over the decision and are even threatening to cut off the agency's funding in response.

At the hearing on Tuesday, Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison whether the NLRB decision was "regulatory excess," prompting Bryson to defend the corporation.

"I think it's not the right judgment," he said. "Maybe if I'm ... I wasn't thinking of it so much as regulation, it seemed like such an unexpected kind of legal proceeding that none of us on the board - we thought we were doing the right thing for the country and we looked hard at maintaining the jobs in Washington and expanding the jobs elsewhere for the benefit of the country and never thought for example of putting those jobs outside the U.S."

The NLRB is an independent agency and its lawsuit was not filed in consultation with the Obama administration, so Bryson's words don't contradict the White House. But Republicans, led by South Carolina Sens. Lindsey Graham and Jim DeMint, have been waging all-out war on the issue and will doubtless jump on the exchange. Already the RNC is out with video:

Read more »

unions

GOP, Dems Square Off Over NLRB Case Against Boeing

Susan Crabtree | June 17, 2011, 4:17PM

Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA)

Republicans and Democrats on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee repeatedly clashed Friday over the politically charged National Labor Relations Board complaint against Boeing Co. and its decision to locate a nonunion plant in South Carolina.

Even before the field hearing in Charleston, S.C., got underway, Democrats were accusing Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) of trying to intimidate the NLRB by hauling the agency's top lawyer, Lafe Soloman, before the panel.

Read more »

Labor

Harry Reid Tells GOP To Stop Pressuring Independent Labor Agency

Benjy Sarlin | May 11, 2011, 11:24AM

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV)

Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) defended the National Labor Relations Board on Wednesday amid a concentrated attack from prominent Republicans around the country, accusing conservative critics of meddling with an independent federal agency.

"We need agencies like the NLRB to be able to operate freely and without political pressures," he said in a floor speech. "We need to keep our independent agencies independent. This case is for them to decide, not us."

Read more »

Labor

Union Advocates Accuse GOP Of Interfering With Independent Labor Agency

Benjy Sarlin | May 11, 2011, 8:57AM

Labor allies are defending the White House from attacks by South Carolina Gov. NIkki Haley (R) and other Republican lawmakers over a union dispute with Boeing, accusing them of interfering with an independent federal agency.

At the Chamber of Commerce on Tuesday, Haley and other Republicans called on President Obama to condemn the independent National Labor Relations Board, which is tasked with enforcing labor laws, for suing Boeing over a production line in South Carolina that it says constitutes illegal retaliation against unionized Boeing workers in Washington State. Obama has no direct control over the agency, but does choose its members, and Republicans have sought to block appointments they consider too pro-labor.

Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA), chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, issued a statement accusing the GOP of an "overly dramatic response" to a "routine unfair labor practice charge." He added that it was unfair to target the White House when it has no say in the NLRB's lawsuit.

"That's what this all comes down to: powerful corporate interests are pressuring public officials to interfere with an independent agency, rather than let justice run its course," Harkin said. "And we should not tolerate this interference. Instead, we should turn our attention back to the issues that really matter to American families - how we can create jobs in Washington, South Carolina, Iowa, and across the country?"

Read more »