ATR Applauds Rejection of Lauren McFerran by Senate

Americans for Tax Reform applauds Senators for voting down the renomination of Lauren McFerran to serve another term on the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). The rejection of McFerran by the Senate will protect the principles of worker freedom that Americans voted for in November.

On Wednesday, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) attempted to push through the renomination of incumbent NLRB Chair Lauren McFerran as a last-minute attempt to lock in leftwing labor policy for years to come. In an effort to avoid public scrutiny, Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee Chairman Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) avoided holding any kind of public hearing where Senators could ask questions of the nominee. Had Democrats succeeded, they would have held a majority at the NLRB through August 2026––well into the Trump administration––undermining the President-elect’s agenda of worker freedom.

Instead, Senators Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.) and Joe Manchin (I-W.Va.) joined Republicans in voting ‘NO’ on McFerran, ultimately defeating her nomination in a 50-49 vote. Manchin later told reporters that his opposition to the nomination stemmed from McFerran’s attempted overhaul of the joint employer standard, which would have caused sweeping damage to businesses that use the franchise model.

McFerran’s tenure as NLRB Chair was fraught with these precedent-shifting overhauls that prioritized the desires of union bosses over the needs of workers. In addition to the joint employer rule, McFerran issued decisions that sped up union election timelines, reducing the ability for workers to be properly informed ahead of a vote, and in many cases gave unions the ability to bypass secret ballot elections altogether. The NLRB under McFerran’s leadership also prevented employers from protecting their employees against racist, sexist, and harassing behavior from union organizers, deeming such conduct protected.

“The Senate should allow voters to make their voices heard. The 2024 election is a referendum on the Biden-Harris administration and the policies they have enacted. If voters choose to reject the disastrous Big Labor agenda pushed by Biden, Harris, and McFerran, then the country should not continue to be saddled with those same policies for years afterward,” wrote ATR President Grover Norquist in an op-ed earlier this year. “Senators should reject Lauren McFerran’s nomination and allow our next President to appoint a sensible nominee instead.”

Americans for Tax Reform and a coalition of free-market groups sent a letter to Senators earlier this week asking them to oppose McFerran’s nomination, arguing that “President Trump’s past nominees to the Board had a strong track record of properly interpreting the NLRA and facilitating a successful labor law environment” and that Trump “must be given the opportunity to create this environment once again.”

With Lauren McFerran’s tenure in the rear-view mirror and Republican control returning to the House, Senate, and Presidency next month, Americans can look forward to the nomination of new NLRB members who will put the rights and freedoms of working people first.