Trump Names GOP Labor Board Member Kaplan as Agency Chair (1)

President Donald Trump has tapped Marvin Kaplan, the National Labor Relations Board’s sole Republican member, as chair of the agency.

While Kaplan gains new ministerial authority as chair of the NLRB, the board majority is still controlled by the two Democratic members, Gwynne Wilcox and David Prouty.

Kaplan will lead the board’s Republican majority after Trump’s pending nominees for the two open seats win Senate confirmation. The designation was part of Trump’s Day One presidential actions Monday.

“The President’s announcement is an honor and privilege, and I look forward to serving as Chairman of the National Labor Relations Board,” Kaplan said in a statement Tuesday.

Elevating the sole NLRB member of a new president’s party is a typical move following a transition of power.

Former President Joe Biden tapped Lauren McFerran, who was then the NLRB’s only Democrat, to lead the board at the start of his term in 2021. Trump named lone GOP member Philip Miscimarra as acting chair soon after his first inauguration in 2017, then gave him the permanent role a few months later.