Beltway Buzz - July 7, 2017

NLRB/DOL Nominee Hearings. On Thursday, July 13, the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education Labor and Pensions (HELP) will hold confirmation hearings on the nomination of Patrick Pizzella to serve as Deputy Secretary of Labor, as well as the nominations of Marvin Kaplan and William Emanuel to serve on the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). Perhaps as soon as immediately after the nomination hearing, the HELP Committee will vote on whether to send the nominees for consideration by the Senate. This means that there may be enough time to get these nominations confirmed before the Senate leaves for its August recess. With respect to the NLRB, this will give Republicans a 3-2 majority for at least five months, until Chair Miscimarra's term expires in mid-December (and hopefully the administration is already putting a plan in place to ensure that Miscimarra's seat doesn't remain vacant for long, if at all).