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Happening Today: Senate Committee Holds Hearing For NLRB General Counsel Nominee

 

When President Joe Biden took office back in January, he swiftly moved to oust the General Counsel of the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”), Peter Robb (“Robb”).  Readers will recall that after President Biden called for Robb’s resignation, and Robb refused, he was unceremoniously terminated.  There was a bit of uproar following that termination, as Robb’s term as General Counsel did not end until this November and incoming administrations had tended to leave prior appointments in place through the end of their term.

Following the termination of Robb, President Biden moved to nominate Jennifer Abruzzo (“Abruzzo”) as the next General Counsel.  Abruzzo’s nomination was well received by labor advocates, due in part to her prior tenure at the NLRB (as Deputy General Counsel and Acting General Counsel before Robb was confirmed) as well as her current role as Special Counsel for Strategic Initiatives for the Communications Workers of America.

With that being said, simply nominating Abruzzo did not automatically make her the next General Counsel.  In fact, today, the Senate Health, Education, Labor & Pensions Committee will hold a hearing on her nomination.  With Democrats having a majority on the Committee, short of some smoking gun being revealed today, I would expect Abruzzo to be confirmed by the Committee and then move to the full Senate for a vote.  However, do not be surprised if Republicans on the Committee seek to highlight the termination of Robb and question Abruzzo as to whether this was a proper move.


For a link to today’s confirmation hearing:  https://www.help.senate.gov/hearings/nominations-of-jennifer-abruzzo-to-serve-as-general-counsel-of-the-national-labor-relations-board-and-seema-nanda-to-serve-as-solicitor-for-the-department-of-labor

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