Senators Restate Opposition to Becker Re-Nomination
Last week, President Obama once again sent to the Senate the nomination of Craig Becker to sit as a Member of the National Labor Relations Board. Becker's nomination failed a cloture vote last year, 52-33, after which the President named him to the Board by recess appointment. In the absence of further action on his re-nomination, Member Becker will serve until the end of this year.
This evening, the Daily Caller is reporting that Senators Michael Enzi (R-WY) and Orrin Hatch (R-UT) likewise have sent a letter to the President, asking him to rescind the nomination. Matthew Boyle reports:
In their letter, Enzi and Hatch wrote that Becker has abused his power since his recess appointment and urged the president to reconsider his nomination.
“He has led the Board to re-open and reverse settled decisions, made discrete cases a launching point for broad changes to current labor law, and used an 18 year-old petition to initiate a rulemaking proposal that likely exceeds the Board’s statutory authority,” the letter reads. “At the same time, the NLRB is threatening four states with lawsuits based on constitutional provisions protecting secret-ballot union elections that were adopted by the voters of those states. Yet, the Board has ignored provisions in other states that conflict with federal law but benefit unions over employers, including state laws that restrict employers’ free speech rights during the union organizing process.”
Hatch and Enzi also pointed out that Becker had said that he would recuse himself in cases that involved his previous employers, but that since he’s been on the board, he has only recused himself one time. Becker has been requested to recuse himself 13 times.
We will post a copy of the Senators' letter once it becomes available to the public.
