President Trump has designated NLRB Member James Murphy to serve as the agency’s Chairman.
Murphy was sworn in as a member in January. Before that, he spent decades at the agency as a lawyer, including as counsel to multiple Board Members.
The Board currently has three Members: Murphy and Scott Mayer (Republicans) and David Prouty (a Democrat). Two seats remain vacant.
The NLRB Chairman exercises significant control over the Board’s priorities and operations. During his confirmation hearing, Murphy emphasized that he would focus on reducing the case backlog that built up in 2025 when the Board lacked a quorum rather than selecting cases through which it could revisit controversial pro-union decisions issued during the Biden Administration. The Board will lose its quorum again in August when Member Prouty’s term expires.
Members of the Center for Workplace Compliance (CWC), our affiliated nonprofit membership association, can read more here. CWC members can discuss the likely direction of the NLRB at upcoming Conversation Corners.