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Senate HELP Committee Approves NLRB Nomination

By a 12-10 party line vote, the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee approved the nomination of Lauren McFarren as a member of the National Labor Relations Board. Her nomination now moves to the full Senate, which has about a week to act before it recesses for the year.

McFarren currently serves as chief counsel to the HELP committee, now chaired by Senator Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), who is retiring after this session. She was named by the Obama administration to replace Nancy Schiffer, whose term ends Dec. 16. Without a successor to Schiffer, there would be just four Board members, two Democrats and two Republicans, making it unlikely that the NLRB would reach any decisions on important workplace issues.

The Senate rules change for nominations, made a year ago, means that Executive Branch and most judicial appointments can be confirmed by a vote of 51 Senators, not the 60 that had been needed to move a nomination to final vote.

That rule change will only be in effect through the end of this session.