Top Labor Board Lawyer Wants to Shield Agency from Layoff Plan

The National Labor Relations Board will try to avoid the mass layoffs the White House is telling government leaders to prepare for, provided the agency is allowed to make an argument on why losing workers would be especially harmful, according to its top lawyer.

But the NLRB can’t dodge a direct order from the Trump administration calling for a reduction in force, acting NLRB General Counsel William Cowen said during an appearance at an American Bar Association conference Wednesday.

“We will make a pitch. If it allows for us to make a pitch, we’ll make a pitch,” Cowen said. “But ...