Don't Do It: GOP Warns Obama on Labor Board Appointment During Break

For decades, presidents have used congressional recesses to frustrate political foes on Capitol Hill. President Obama hasn't done it yet. And Senate Republicans are trying mightily to convince him not to use their spring break to name a liberal union lawyer to the National Labor Relations Board, which settles disputes between management and organized labor.

All 41 GOP senators signed a letter urging Obama to forswear a recess appointment that would allow attorney Craig Becker to serve on the NLRB through next year without gaining Senate confirmation.

Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), who is leading the effort with Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), said, "Given the bipartisan opposition to his nomination, the administration would be wise to not circumvent the will of the Senate," the Wall Street Journal reported.

Becker, a former UCLA professor, is counsel to the Service Employees Union International and a strong supporter of so-called card check legislation and other labor law changes that business interests fear would give an unfair advantage to unions. His nomination is strongly opposed by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other business lobbies. The card check bill, which has stalled in Congress, would allow unions to represent workers at a company once a majority of employees sign cards agreeing to union membership. In such cases, a representation election would not be necessary.

Becker's nomination was blocked in the Senate in February, when his Democratic supporters fell eight votes short of the super-majority they needed to choke off a Republican filibuster. Two Democrats, Sens. Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas and Ben Nelson of Nebraska, joined Republicans on that vote.

"We oppose Mr. Becker's appointment because of his extensive, highly controversial writings, and his entire legal and scholarly career, all of which indicate that he could not be viewed as impartial, unbiased or objective in deciding cases before this quasi-judicial agency," the Republican letter to Obama said. "Instead, his writings clearly indicate that he would use his position on the NLRB to institute far-reaching changes to labor law far exceeding the Board's authority and bypassing the role of Congress."

The five-member National Labor Relations Board needs beefing up. It currently has three vacancies -- with no official word from the White House yet on where Obama is headed concerning the Becker nomination.