President Obama has threatened a veto of yet another Republican attack on labor law enforcement. House Republicans will vote this week on a bill that would prevent the National Labor Relations Board from doing its work until either the Supreme Court rules on the validity of Obama's recess appointments to the board or the Senate confirms enough members for a quorum. According to the
statement of administration policy:
H.R. 1120 would needlessly place the rights of millions of American workers in jeopardy and erode financial security and economic opportunity for middle class and working families. [...] The Administration rejects the premise of this legislation, as the NLRB properly continues to act while courts resolve legal challenges to the President's recess appointments, which the Administration believes are valid and constitutional. By depriving the NLRB of statutory authority, H.R. 1120 would compromise the President's constitutional authority to make recess appointments. The legislation poses additional constitutional concerns because it would effectively remove the President's recess appointees from office, authority that resides with the President.
As the statement observes, Congress created the uncertainty around the NLRB when Republicans in the Senate blocked Obama's nominees to the labor board, and Congress could solve it. But that's today's Republican party: They'd rather pass a bill saying a federal agency can't do its job than do their own job by allowing up or down votes on presidential nominees.