Trump Names NLRB Nominees, Paving Path to Functioning Quorum (1)

President Donald Trump tapped a pair of National Labor Relations Board nominees who, if confirmed, would give the agency enough board members to fully function.

The administration Thursday nominated Scott Mayer, chief labor counsel at the Boeing Co., and James Murphy, a former career NLRB lawyer, to fill the two open Republican board seats.

The NLRB has been unable to issue decisions for most of Trump’s second term because his January firing of Democratic member Gwynne Wilcox dropped the board below the three-member minimum necessary for a quorum. The US Supreme Court blocked a federal judge’s order to reinstate Wilcox as litigation over her termination proceeds.

Although the agency has continued to perform many of its operations, the impact of the non-functioning board has been significant. It’s issued six published decisions since Trump’s inauguration, compared to 60 during the same six-month period in 2024.

If Trump’s nominees sail through the Senate approval process, they would join Chair Marvin Kaplan to form a three-member GOP majority on the board, with David Prouty continuing to serve as the sole Democratic member.

But Mayer and Murphy might not arrive until after Kaplan’s term expires on Aug. 27.

Although board members serve five-year terms, that time is pegged to the seat a member occupies rather than when they begin their terms.

Trump tapped Mayer to fill the seat most recently held by former Chair Lauren McFerran, which has a term that expires in December 2029. Murphy would fill the seat last held by former Chair John Ring, which runs out in December 2027.

Mayer has spent decades in corporate legal departments and management-side law firms. Beyond Boeing, he’s worked at InterContinental Hotels Group, MGM Resorts International, and Aramark, as well as Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP and Blank Rome LLP.

He was Boeing’s top labor lawyer when the aerospace giant endured a machinist strike in 2024 that hobbled jetliner production for more than 50 days. The strike ended when a majority of the 33,000 International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers accepted a labor contract calling for a 38% wage increase over four years.

Murphy has a much different resume than his fellow nominee. He first worked at the NLRB as a student law clerk in 1974, and has served on the staffs of dozens of board members throughout the years. He was most recently Kaplan’s chief counsel.

The Coalition for a Democratic Workplace, an alliance of business groups, applauded the nominations.

“It is essential to our nation’s economic well-being to have a fully functioning NLRB as well as well-qualified individuals serving on the Board,” CDW Chair Kristen Swearingen said in a statement.