Manchin, Sinema tank Schumer lame-duck effort to secure Dem majority on top labor board

In a lame duck effort, President Biden and Senate Democrats tried to reconfirm National Labor Relations Board Chair Lauren McFerran, a Democrat, to another five-year term, and thereby solidify a Democratic majority on the board until well into President-elect Trump’s term. 

However, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., failed to handicap Trump’s impact on labor and unions for the first two years of his term with the vote, which took place on Wednesday afternoon.

Outgoing Sens. Joe Manchin, I-W.Va., and Kyrsten Sinema, I-Ariz., dealt their caucus a blow, voting down the test vote. 

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Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., teed up a controversial vote that would have solidified the National Labor Relations Board’s Democratic leadership under Lauren McFerran well into President-elect Trump’s term. (Reuters)

McFerran was not reconfirmed on the floor, despite the Democrats’ effort. Her nomination has been waiting to be considered since August, when Democrats advanced her out of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP). The Democrats notably have a razor-thin majority of only 51 and making sure all senators are there to vote can often be tricky. 

Senators voted 49 to 50 against ending debate and proceeding to a vote on her reconfirmation. 

Schumer said in a statement following the failed cloture vote: “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.”

A point of frustration for Republicans was the fact that HELP Chairman Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., denied a request from his counterpart, ranking member Bill Cassidy, R-La., to hold a public hearing on McFerran before advancing her. 

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Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., speaks at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago on Aug. 20. (Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images)

“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 in a statement. “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.” 

Schumer filed cloture on her nomination on Monday, setting up a vote on Wednesday. In floor remarks, the New York Democrat did not acknowledge the lame-duck nature of the vote, telling his colleagues, “If you truly care about working families, if you care about fixing income inequality in America, then you should be in favor of advancing today’s NLRB nominees. You can’t say you are for working families, then go and vote no today, because the NLRB protects workers from mistreatment on the job, and from overreaching employers.”

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Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., attends a press conference at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Aug. 5, 2022. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

In his own remarks, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said, “The NLRB member who’s held primary responsibility for executing on the Biden-Big Labor agenda is its chair, Lauren McFerran. And she’s up for confirmation to another term.”

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He added, “This is to say nothing of the fact that her confirmation would give a lame-duck president control of an independent board well into his successor’s term!”

Since McFerran was not reconfirmed, the position will be Trump’s to fill.

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Trump’s transition team did not immediately provide comment to Fox News Digital. 

Turning Point USA founder and CEO Charlie Kirk sounded the alarm bell on Schumer and Biden’s effort on Monday, writing on X, “EMERGENCY: Chuck Schumer is trying to ram through Dem activist Lauren McFerran for another term chairing the National Labor Relations Board—a very big deal. If successful, we will have a Dem Chair of the NLRB for the first 2 YEARS of Trump’s Presidency. We need every GOP Senator to show up and block her!”