House GOP probes for documents on NLRB appointments

House Committee on Education and the Workforce Chairman John Kline (R-Minn.) has put forward a formal request for all documents related to the three National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) recess appointments that were made last week, a request Kline said is warranted because two of the three appointments did not go through a formal vetting process in Congress.

"The complete departure from and total disregard for normal policies governing the appointments of these individuals to the Board raises serious questions about their qualifications, background, and the future of the NLRB," Kline wrote in a letter along with subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor and Pensions Chairman Phil Roe (R-Tenn.).

"As members of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce who are charged with oversight of federal labor law, and in the absence of any public vetting process of the new Board members, we expect you will fully respond to this request without delay," they wrote.

The Obama administration last week made the controversial decision to appoint Terence Flynn, Sharon Block and Richard Griffin to the NLRB, even though Block and Griffin were nominated just weeks ago, in mid-December, and had not completed the vetting process as Flynn had. The recess appointments were made even though Congress was not in recess, and was in the midst of holding periodic pro forma sessions meant to prevent recess appointments.

"Short-circuiting the constitutional appointment process in this manner denies the Senate and the American people an opportunity to judge independently the qualifications of those nominated to serve in these important positions," the letter said.

Kline and Roe asked specifically for all documents related to the employment of the three appointees while they worked at the NLRB, and all documents related to the decision to appoint the new board members.

They also argued that this information is important because the NLRB has been working on behalf of unions for the last few years, and has been "complicit, if not active" in labor disputes. As examples, they said the NLRB tried to force Boeing to relocate its work to Washington state, limited the right of employees to a secret ballot in union elections and is requiring companies to display posters explaining worker rights.

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