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Senate Reaches Agreement
Clear the Way for Vote on NLRB Nominees
Last night the Senate reached an agreement in which several presidential nominations, including those to the National Labor Relations Board, would be voted on, and in return Senator Reid agreed not to push for a vote to change the Senate filibuster rules. President Obama agreed to withdraw the two nominees to the NLRB who were recess appointments and to put forward two different nominees instead. The Republicans agreed not to block the nominees
The full slate of NLRB nominees will be voted on by the next week.While the agreement avoids a meaningful and permanent change to the Senate filibuster rules, we will have a functioning NLRB this fall.
Thank to all of the members who responded and called their Senators. CWA led the way in this battle and it made a difference. If we had not done so it is clear that that the big business interests in Washington would have been successful in preventing the appointment of a fully functioning NLRB and set labor back decades.
See the two articles below for more details.
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| Obama makes new NLRB nominations
David Jackson, USA Today
President Obama fulfilled his part of a Senate deal Tuesday to avoid major changes in the filibusterrules, making two new nominations to the National Labor Relations Board.
Obama put up Nancy Schiffer, associate general counsel at the AFL-CIO, and Kent Hirozawa, chief counsel to NLRB chairman Mark Pearce.
They replace nominees Richard Griffin and Sharon Block, whom Republicans had objected to because they were recess appointments.
Saying that the labor board "is responsible for enforcing protections that are fundamental to growing the economy and creating jobs from the middle class," Obama praised his new nominees and said: "I look forward to the agency continuing its work to promote better wages and conditions for all American workers."
Obama also praised the new Senate agreement, saying that "in the weeks ahead, I hope the Congress will build on this spirit of cooperation to advance other urgent middle-class priorities." He cited "the need to take action to pass common-sense immigration reform and keep interest rates on student loans low for families trying to afford a higher education."
The NLRB was at the center of a Senate dispute over the so-called "nuclear option," a proposal by Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., to make it easier for Obama appointees to get confirmed; Republicans had threatened political retaliation if the rules were changed.
Click here to read the full article |
Senators Reach Agreement to Avert Fight Over Filibuster
WASHINGTON - Senate leaders reached an agreement on Tuesday to preserve the filibuster in exchange for confirmation votes on President Obama's stalled nominees, ending, at least for now, months of partisan warfare that threatened the stability of several federal agencies and a generation of procedural traditions.
The deal, which paved the way for votes on seven nominees, was a classic Senate outcome: an inconclusive result that left both sides claiming some vindication. It was sealed with congratulations and awkward hugs among members who praised a private meeting Monday night attended by 98 senators for averting a parliamentary crisis.
The immediate result was the confirmation, in a 66 to 34 vote, of Richard Cordray as the first permanent director of the Consumer Financial Protection Board after his nomination for a five-year term had languished for months. His approval, a decisive victory for frustrated Democrats who pushed to establish the agency in the aftermath of the financial crisis, will expand the powers of the new watchdog agency, allowing it to move forward with plans to regulate a variety of consumer lending programs.
Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, who as the majority leader had forced the agreement by threatening to upend filibuster rules, said he believed the tussle had not only cleared the way for the approval of Mr. Cordray and others but had also changed the environment in the Senate for the better.
"This must be a new normal," Mr. Reid said after the Senate allowed consideration of Mr. Cordray. "Qualified executive nominees must not be blocked on procedural supermajority votes."
Any new Senate spirit will be severely tested in the weeks ahead as the chamber moves toward the politically charged nominations of a series of federal appeals court judges as well as a nominee for secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, a position tied closely to the immigration legislation sought by Mr. Obama.
Unlike a 2005 agreement on judges that limited filibusters to "extraordinary circumstances," the new deal did not put in place any framework for restricting such procedural tactics in the future or address the larger question of how to unclog the Senate.
The deal began to take shape during late-night talks on Monday between Democrats and a Republican, John McCain of Arizona, who appeared to bypass his own leadership. They ended with early-morning commitments in the Senate gym.
A clear winner was Mr. Obama, who gained a functioning consumer agency created on his watch, resurrected a defunct labor board and secured confirmation of a new E.P.A. chief and a disputed labor secretary. The Senate will also vote Wednesday to confirm Fred P. Hochberg to a new term at the helm of the Export-Import Bank.
Democrats withdrew two nominees for the National Labor Relations Board whom the president had appointed during a Senate recess.
On Tuesday Mr. Obama nominated as replacements Nancy Schiffer and Kent Hirozawa. Ms. Schiffer retired last year as an associate general counsel at the A.F.L.-C.I.O., and Mr. Hirozawa is the chief counsel to the board's chairman.
Most important to Republicans, Mr. Reid dropped his plan to change Senate rules to limit the filibuster - for now.
Click here to read the full article |
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