On May 23, President Joe Biden nominated National Labor Relations Board Chair Lauren McFerran to serve a third term, threatening Democratic control of the Board through August 2026, regardless of who wins the presidency in November. McFerran’s tenure has been the subject of congressional hearings and oversight letters as well as numerous press reports and editorials highlighting the agency’s failures. In addition, an Office of the Inspector General report found that the Board was operating under “gross mismanagement.”

On July 25, ABC and the ABC-led Coalition for a Democratic Workplace sent letters to the committee expressing concerns over McFerran’s nomination.

Under McFerran’s leadership, the NLRB has issued decisions and expanded interpretations of the National Labor Relations Act that have been rejected by the business community, Congress, and federal courts, including the Board’s joint employer standard and its revived controversial policies through its Representation-Case Procedures final rule.

Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee Chairman Bernie Sanders has opted to proceed to a markup of McFerran’s renomination without a formal confirmation hearing, allowing her record to go unchecked and unquestioned by committee members.

On Oct. 25, the Senate voted 51-46 to confirm Jessica Looman as the administration of the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division. Ahead of the vote, ABC joined the Partnership to Protect Workplace Opportunity (PPWO) in a letter to Senators, expressing concerns with WHD’s recent policy and procedural decisions under Looman’s leadership as Principal Deputy Administrator and urging them to discuss with Principal Deputy Administrator Looman and the Department of Labor the overtime proposal as part of their consideration of her nomination.

Earlier this year in a letter to the Senate HELP committee, ABC highlighted concerns from the construction industry on rulemakings, such as independent contractor, overtime and radical reforms to Davis-Bacon regulations that will increase the cost of taxpayer-funded construction projects and discourage small businesses from rebuilding America.

ABC joined more than 30 organizations in a letter opposing the nomination of Julie Su to serve as the next U.S. Secretary of Labor. ABC previously sent a letter opposing Su’s nomination and raising her questionable record over the past years as Deputy Secretary and her previous role in California.

Su’s nomination is currently stalled in the Senate as Republicans are united in opposition and moderate Democrats remain hesitant to support her while the White House is attempting a last-ditch effort to get her across the finish line.

On April 20, the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee is scheduled to hold a hearing on the nomination of Julie Su to serve as the next U.S. Secretary of Labor. Su, who was approved as the No. 2 at Labor by the Senate last Congress in a party line 50-47 vote, previously served as California Labor Secretary. Before holding the Secretary of Labor role in California, Su also served as California Labor Commissioner from 2011 through 2018. Su was also one of the top architects of California’s controversial Assembly Bill 5 (AB5) law, which instituted an arbitrary and vague three-stage, “ABC” test to prove a worker is an independent contractor instead of an employee.

On April 17, ABC sent a letter, notifying the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee of our opposition to Julie Su to serve as the next U.S. Secretary of Labor.

On March 30, ABC joined a coalition of trade and business organizations in a letter to the committee raising considerable questions around the nomination of Su and her questionable record over the past years as Deputy Secretary and her previous role in California, and urging the committee to question Su on the current challenges facing the Department of Labor and the workforce in the United States.

ABC believes that during her time as Deputy Secretary, Ms. Su has shown she is unwilling or unable to consider the concerns of thousands of our nation’s small business and millions of workers who face daunting challenges under the DOL’s current regulatory agenda. Without assurances from Ms. Su that the voices of the majority of small businesses will be heard at DOL, ABC will be forced to continue to raise serious concerns with her nomination.

On Feb. 15, the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions held a hearing on the nomination of Jessica Looman to serve as the administrator of the Wage and Hour Division at the U.S. Department of Labor. Looman currently serves as the Principal Deputy Administrator of WHD, and before joining WHD, served as the Executive Director of the Minnesota State Building and Construction Trades Council. In a letter to the committee, ABC highlighted concerns from the construction industry on forthcoming rulemakings, such as independent contractor, overtime and radical reforms to Davis-Bacon regulations that will increase the cost of taxpayer-funded construction projects and discourage small businesses from rebuilding America, and urged the committee to obtain clear commitments from Ms. Looman as the agency considers these new rules.

Republican Ranking Member on the Committee Sen. Bill Cassidy, La., also announced his opposition to Ms. Looman following the hearing