(The Associated Press circulated the following story by Jim Abrams on June 22, 2010.)
WASHINGTON, D.C. The Senate on Tuesday confirmed two candidates to be members of the National Labor Relations Board, breaking a stalement that has disrupted the labor board's ability to resolve labor-management disputes.
Those winning Senate confirmation were Mark Pearce, a union lawyer who already serves on the NLRB in a temporary capacity, and Brian Hayes, the Republican labor policy director on the Senate committee that oversees labor issues.
Not on the list of more than 60 Obama nominees confirmed with Pearce and Hayes was Craig Becker, a third NLRB nominee that Republicans have united in opposing because of his close ties to organized labor groups. The fight over Becker has been a major factor in stalling votes on others waiting to serve in the government.
The NLRB, an independent federal agency charged with refereeing labor-management differences, is supposed to have five members, but until April this year it had only two because Democrats balked at President George W. Bush's choices and Republicans have blocked President Barack Obama's nominations.
The Supreme Court last week ruled that more than 500 NLRB decisions will have to be reopened because they were decided by only two members.
Obama in April made Pearce and Becker recess appointments, a practice used by presidents when the Senate doesn't act on nominations. Becker, a top lawyer for the Service Employees International Union and the AFL-CIO, has faced strenuous objections from Republicans, who claim he would push an aggressively pro-union agenda.
The recent appointees can only serve through the end of the next Senate session, through the end of 2011. Regular members of the NLRB have five-year terms.
Pearce and Hayes, whose nominations were sent to the Senate last October, were confirmed by voice vote along with more than 60 other people waiting Senate action to fill federal agency slots. The nominees, largely non-controversial, will take up work in such agencies as the Peace Corps, Amtrak, the Marine Mammal Commission and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
Becker continue with the NLRB on a temporary status.
Democrats and the administration have complained about the slow pace of Senate confirmations and accused Republicans of obstructing the functioning of government.
Obama said in his weekly radio address last Saturday that there were 136 qualified people waiting for a Senate vote, "but most of them are seeing their nominations intentionally delayed by Republican leaders, or even blocked altogether."
Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., responded by going to the Senate floor Monday evening to say that "I just want to make sure everybody understands both downtown and here that we are prepared to clear over 60 nominations and have been prepared to clear them for the last week."
