Staff Reports
The fight over the National Labor Relations Board is not over. What started as a sharp turn under President Biden’s NLRB general counsel has left a pile of cases and a political hangover that the Trump administration now says it must clean up. That fight — over whether the NLRB served workers or unions and whether it was “weaponized” for politics — is still shaping agency policy, congressional oversight, and how employers and unions behave in the real world.
What “weaponized” looks like — and the backlog it left
Under former NLRB General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo, critics say the agency expanded its role beyond traditional labor disputes. Cases ranged from political messages on aprons to profanity in group chats. Those decisions created a new playbook and a heavy case load. Senators and House members have been asking tough questions about a large backlog — a figure near 17,000 was raised in hearings — and agency reports confirm multi‑month delays on many matters. The result: employers and employees face months or years before a simple workplace dispute is resolved, and everyone pays the price in uncertainty.
Trump moves to reverse course — rescissions and new leadership
President Donald Trump removed Jennifer Abruzzo and installed new leadership to change priorities. William B. Cowen, as acting general counsel, began rescinding several Biden‑era memoranda, and General Counsel Crystal Carey has been sworn in to steer investigations and case processing differently. Chairman James Murphy and agency officials say they are working to cut down pendency at the Board level. Those moves are necessary — some Biden policies stretched the law toward political aims — but rescinding memos won’t magically erase thousands of active complaints or pending court fights inherited from the last administration.
Legacy cases don’t disappear because you say they’re gone
Here’s the inconvenient truth for both sides: a change in Washington seat assignments does not unwire every action the last team took. Lawsuits filed in federal court, long lists of pending charges, and agency precedent already in litigation keep Biden‑era rulings alive. Employers rightly cheer the new GC memos that focus resources on core labor law issues, while union advocates warn that rescissions deprive workers of protections. Meanwhile, Congress has stepped in with hearings to demand transparency and quicker case handling. Oversight is right; the American people need a functional NLRB that enforces the law efficiently — not an office that alternates every four years between activism and rollback.
Bottom line: reform the process, not the politics
We should want an NLRB that protects workers’ rights to bargain collectively, not an agency that turns into a political cudgel for whoever sits in the White House. President Donald Trump’s appointees have begun to reverse the most aggressive Biden‑era moves, and General Counsel Crystal Carey and Chairman James Murphy must be judged on how fast and fairly they clear the backlog and restore focus to real workplace issues. Congress should keep asking hard questions. And for those who think a memo or a press release fixes everything — enjoy your paper towel solution while the real mess is still on the floor.
