US

Trump Nominates Veteran Labor Lawyer To NLRB

REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

Daily Caller News Foundation logo
Ted Goodman Contributor
Font Size:

President Donald Trump will nominate William Emanuel, a veteran labor lawyer, to fill the final vacancy on the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), the White House announced Tuesday night.

Trump, who had to fill two vacant seats on the board, also nominated Washington, D.C., attorney Marvin Kaplan earlier this month. If both men are confirmed, the NLRB will have a Republican majority for the first time since June 2007.

“It is an honor to be nominated by the president for this important position, and I would be privileged to serve if the Senate confirms my nomination,” Emanuel told the Wall Street Journal.

Emanuel is currently a Los Angeles attorney with Littler Mendelson. He also has experience supporting employers in cases before the board. He is a member of the influential Federalist Society, which has advised Trump on a number of key issues, including the selection of Justice Neil Gorsuch to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Industry groups, including the National Restaurant Association, hailed the selection since Emanuel has said he would help repair misguided rulings from Obama’s NLRB.

“The National Restaurant Association applauds the selection of William Emanuel as a nominee to the National Labor Relations Board,” Cicely Simpson, executive vice president of the National Restaurant Association, told The Daily Caller News Foundation. “Given the Board’s broad overreach during the previous administration and harmful decisions on joint employer, ambush elections and micro-unions, we welcome the balance and fairness that Mr. Emanuel will bring to the Board.”

Kaplan, who Trump announced in June, is currently counsel at the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission. He has previously worked for Republican lawmakers as an attorney for the education and oversight committees.

The NLRB is an independent federal agency created to enforce the National Labor Relations Act, which set labor standards for American workers in 1934. When Republicans re-establish control, it is expected to roll back Obama-era policies seen as favorable to big labor.

Obama’s NLRB made it easier for contractors to organize. The board has also broadened the joint employer rule, which franchises say exposes them to unreasonable liabilities. (RELATED: Congresswoman Serves Up Popcorn To Highlight A Big Threat To Expanding Small Businesses)

Shortly after taking office, Trump named the sole Republican member of the board, Philip A. Miscimarra as acting chairman. Miscimarra was a senior fellow at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton Business School before joining the NLRB as a member.

Follow Ted on Twitter

Send Tips to ted@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.

All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.