President Obama made three recess appointments on Wednesday afternoon, filling vacancies on the National Labor Relations Board that were left open by Republican refusals to confirm appointees.
The appointments to the NLRB, a lightening rod for conservatives opposed to any expansion of labor rights, are Sharon Block, currently deputy assistant secretary for congressional affairs at the Labor Department; Terence Flynn, now the chief counsel to NLRB member Brian Hayes; and Richard Griffin, general counsel for the International Union of Operating Engineers.
Block's appointment fills a vacancy left by Craig Becker, a former associate general counsel to both the Service Employees International Union and the AFL-CIO who was seated on the NLRB via a recess appointment in March 2010. Obama withdrew his appointment of Becker for a full term last month after it was fiercely resisted by Senate Republicans.
The NLRB appointments followed Obama's controversial recess appointment of Richard Cordray to a new consumer board earlier Wednesday.
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