The National Labor Relations Board Regains a Quorum and Resumes Operations

After nearly a year, the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB” or the “Board”) has returned to full operation.  Senate confirmations in mid-December restored both the Board’s quorum and permanent leadership at the General Counsel level, ending a prolonged period in which the agency could not act.

How the NLRB Reached a Standstill

Federal law requires the NLRB to maintain at least three confirmed Board members to issue decisions.  The Board failed to meet that threshold beginning in early 2025.

The breakdown began in late 2024, when the Senate declined to confirm nominees to open Board seats.  Matters worsened after the presidential transition in January 2025, when the administration removed then-Board Member Gwynn Wilcox and General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo.  Wilcox challenged her removal, but the courts ultimately upheld her termination, and the Supreme Court signaling agreement at an early stage.

With Board Member Wilcox gone, the Board fell below the statutory minimum required number of Board members.  When Board Member Marvin Kaplan’s term later expired, the Board dropped to a single sitting member.  During that period, the Board could not resolve election objections, decide on unfair labor practice cases, or oversee prosecutions of alleged labor violations.  Although an acting general counsel, William Cowen, managed day-to-day enforcement functions, the Board’s adjudicatory operations effectively ground to a halt.

December 2025: Quorum Restored

The Board’s quorum was restored on December 18, 2025, when the Senate confirmed a package of nominations that included:

• James Murphy, now serving as Board Chair
• Scott Mayer, serving as a Board Member
• Crystal Carey, confirmed as NLRB General Counsel

The Senate approved the confirmations as part of a larger en bloc resolution, immediately restoring the three-member quorum required for the Board to operate.  Together, the confirmations end nearly twelve months of operational paralysis.

What the Board Can Do Again

With a quorum restored and a Senate-confirmed General Counsel in place, the NLRB can once again carry out its core statutory functions, including issuing decisions in representation and unfair labor practice cases, resolving election objections that had been sitting unresolved, reviewing and approving significant litigation actions, including requests for federal court injunctions, and beginning to work through a growing backlog of cases that accumulated during the quorum-less period. The Board may also resume rulemaking initiatives, although whether it does so in the near term remains uncertain.

Will the Board Reverse Biden-Era Precedent?

Probably not in the near term.  As a matter of long-standing practice, the Board typically requires a three-member majority to overturn existing precedent.  The current Board consists of two Republican appointees and one Democratic appointee, David Prouty.  That split makes agreement on revisiting controversial precedent unlikely in the near term.

As a result, many of the employer-unfriendly rulings issued during the prior administration that cover areas such as employer speech, remedies, and bargaining orders are more likely to be reshaped by the federal courts than by the Board itself.  Several of those decisions are already working their way through the courts of appeals, where judges have begun weighing in.

For now, meaningful doctrinal change is more likely to come from litigation outcomes than from new Board precedent.

What Employers Should Be Doing Now

Although sweeping reversals are unlikely in the immediate future, the NLRB’s return to full functionality creates immediate practical implications:

• Anticipate movement in stalled cases. Decisions that have been pending for months are likely to begin flowing again.
• Prepare for renewed enforcement activity. Election objections, remedial orders, and litigation approvals will once again move through the system.
• Revisit supervisor and HR training. Lawful responses to organizing activity and employee concerted conduct remain critical.
• Watch for incremental shifts. Even without headline-grabbing reversals, changes in enforcement tone or procedural handling can significantly affect strategy.

If you have questions about union organizing, unfair labor practice charges, election strategy, or collective bargaining obligations, please contact one of Honigman’s Labor and Employment attorneys here.