GOP Bill Would Freeze NLRB as Fallout Over Obama Appointments Continues

The actions of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) would be frozen under a bill that Republican legislators seek to push through the House when Congress returns from recess next week.

The bill, sponsored by Rep. Phil Roe of Tennessee, would immediately freeze all of the board’s activities that require a quorum, The Hill reports. The bill could be considered as early as Thursday.

The legislation is part of the continued fallout from when President Barack Obama made three “recess” appointments in 2012 when the Senate was not in session, The Hill reports.

Republicans immediately challenged the appointments, and a federal appeals court ruled in January that two of the appointments were unconstitutional. The third appointee resigned from the NLRB last year, The Hill reports.

Roe’s legislation also would prevent the NLRB from moving to enforce rules it has adopted since Jan. 4, 2012, when the Obama appointments were made, The Hill reports.

An independent agency that seeks to protect worker’s rights, the NLRB can order remedies for unfair labor practices, The Hill reports.