Labor Board Hounded By Another Appointment Controversy

For much of the Obama Administration, the National Labor Relations Board (Board) has been operating as, at least from the perspective of some, a rogue agency (and not just because of its willingness to overturn precedent to expand union and employees' rights). With just two of the required five members for the first two years of the Administration, the Board lacked a quorum to make binding decisions. Last year, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously invalidated more than a year-and-a-half of Board decisions, ruling that the president's recess appointments of three Board members were unconstitutional. In a further check on the Administration's actions relative to the Board, on August 7, a federal appeals court ruled unanimously that the president's appointment of the Board's top prosecutor and legal advisor was also unlawful.