Senate Confirms Trump Nominees, Restores Republican Quorum at NLRB

The Senate confirmed a large slate of President Trump’s nominees on December 18 and 19, including three key appointments that return the National Labor Relations Board to full operational status. James Murphy and Scott Mayer were confirmed as members of the Board, and Crystal Carey was confirmed as general counsel. Multiple accounts report Murphy will serve as Board chair.

A roll call recorded 53 senators in favor and 43 opposed on the labor related slate, reflecting a largely party line vote. One tally of the broader package described nearly one hundred nominees confirmed in a single action. The timing of votes and public announcements varied between the two days as the Senate moved to complete end of year business.

With the five member slate and the general counsel position now filled, the NLRB can legally form a majority and resume issuing final decisions and enforcement actions that had been frozen for roughly 11 months. The Board’s statutory composition is five members plus a general counsel, all principal officers nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate. Restoring those positions ends a period in which the Board was effectively without a quorum following vacancies that accumulated since January 2025 and actions earlier in the year that left most seats unfilled.

The return to quorum removes practical and legal obstacles to deciding pending matters. The Board can now clear a backlog of election objections and unfair labor practice cases on exceptions from administrative law judges. It can also supervise litigation strategy, including potential requests for injunctions by the general counsel, and may restart rulemaking processes that had been paused. Legal and labor observers say the new composition is expected to produce an agenda more favorable to employers and to prompt reviews of decisions issued during the prior administration.

The confirmations also advance a number of Department of Labor posts. Rosario Palmieri was confirmed to serve as an assistant secretary of labor in a policy making role. Anthony D’Esposito was confirmed to lead the Department of Labor’s Office of Inspector General and Henry Mack was confirmed to head the Employment and Training Administration. Reports from confirmation hearings indicate that both D’Esposito and Carey faced extensive questioning before the Senate committee, a sign that their enforcement and oversight priorities will be subject to intense scrutiny as they assume their duties.

The Senate also confirmed other nominees at the same time, including four appointees to the Tennessee Valley Authority board. Vote totals and the sequencing of Senate action varied across the two day period, but the net effect is a rapid restoration of federal labor governance structures that had been constrained for most of the year.

The practical consequences will become clearer as the Board issues orders and the general counsel sets litigation and investigative priorities. Employers, unions, and workers should expect faster resolution of stalled cases, the possibility of policy reversals, and renewed rulemaking activity. Lawmakers and stakeholders on both sides of the aisle are likely to monitor the Board closely, and committee level oversight of recent nominees may shape how aggressively new leadership pursues changes in labor policy.