President Trump this week announced his intent to nominate four individuals – two Democrats and two Republicans – to fill positions on the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). Each agency operates with five presidentially-appointed and U.S. Senate-confirmed officials when fully staffed. Both EEOC Commissioners and NLRB Members serve for statutorily-set five year terms. By statute, no more than three EEOC Commissioners can be of the same political party. The same holds true for the NLRB, although by tradition rather than statute.
The EEOC currently has two vacancies, with a third vacancy to occur in July when Republican Commissioner Victoria A. Lipnic’s term expires. The NLRB also has two current vacancies. One of the President’s nominees for that agency is current Republican Member Marvin Kaplan, whose term expires in August. Even if the Senate confirms all four of the President’s picks within the next few months, which is expected to occur as a package, absent any further nominations each agency will still have a pending vacancy later this year.
For EEOC Commissioner, the President has announced his intent to nominate Democrat Jocelyn Samuels and Republican Andrea Lucas. For the NLRB, in addition to Republican Kaplan, the President will nominate former Democratic Board Member Lauren McFerran. Brief bios of the four candidates are presented below.
Members of the Center for Workplace Compliance (CWC) can read more here.