Trump’s Populism Set to Clash With Senate GOP on Labor Nominees

Republican control of the Senate will ease the path of Donald Trump’s labor nominations—yet turbulence is expected between the populist and business-friendly wings of the party.

Trump clinched the White House and Republicans retook control of the Senate after flipping several Democratic seats following Tuesday’s election. The Republican wins deal a blow to Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s (D-N.Y.) coalition, and will prompt unions and worker advocates to push for swift confirmation of remaining nominees before the year’s end, including the chair of the National Labor Relations Board.

Despite those GOP gains, some Trump nominees are likely to face additional scrutiny if they differ from more-traditional Republicans on labor policy, observers say. The early months of Trump’s second presidency will test whether the president and the Republican Senate see eye-to-eye on the economic agenda.

“There could be some real clashes there,” said Michael Lotito, co-chair of the Workplace Policy Institute at management-side law firm Littler Mendelson PC. Trump’s campaign has sought “non-traditional people, and who knows how many thousands of names they have and how many thousands of people they have to choose from, but I would suspect it’s a lot, and I would suspect that some of those are populists.”

Fights over nominees can postpone confirmations and leave agencies without leadership, potentially delaying major policy changes.

This dynamic was on display during the first Trump administration: CKE Restaurants CEO Andrew Puzder was the first choice to lead the Department of Labor in 2017 but withdrew amid rising controversy over his personal life and private sector background. Trump’s eventual labor secretary Alexander Acosta wasn’t confirmed to the position until the end of April that year.

Old Guard v. Populists

Trump’s path back to power ran through a realignment of the electorate that has placed union workers and working class voters, including minorities, in his camp, according to political analysts. Teamsters leader Sean O’Brien spoke at this year’s Republican convention, and future Vice President JD Vance has distinguished himself as one of the more populist senators in the party during his brief tenure representing Ohio in the upper chamber.

If Vance and the economic populist wing of the party—including Sen. Josh Hawley (Mo.), who has praised unions’ marquee bill the PRO Act (H.R. 842)—hold sway over personnel picks, it could set up a clash with the old Republican guard in the Senate, Lotito said.

“Vance might have a say in who some of these people are, which would be a populist promotion, but there’s going to be other populists, including the president’s son, who I’m sure is going to have a huge say in who some of these people are,” he said.

Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), the presumptive head of the committee responsible for labor nominees, has clashed with Trump in the past. Cassidy voted to impeach him in 2021 and Trump has called him “one of the worst senators.”

Cassidy didn’t explicitly endorse Trump’s campaign, but congratulated him on the win in a post on X Wednesday. The Baton Rouge lawmaker is up for reelection in 2026, which could further complicate his tenure politically.

Republican Sens. Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) and Susan Collins (Maine) could also pose some difficulty for any Trump nominees that are further to the right. Both serve on the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, are moderate senators that have often voted for Democratic appointees, and have clashed with Trump—they also voted to impeach him and didn’t endorse his candidacy.

NLRB Nominees

The election’s results also set in motion a race against the clock to confirm nominees before President Joe Biden and outgoing Democratic senators are forced to give way to Republicans in early January. While Schumer has been able to confirm almost all of Biden’s labor nominees, two picks for the NLRB have yet to be considered by the full Senate.

Biden renominated Lauren McFerran to serve as NLRB chair and tapped attorney Joshua Ditelberg to fill the open Republican seat at the board in May. If confirmed this year, Democrats would hold a majority at the board until 2026 despite Trump’s victory.

Securing that majority with McFerran will be a key priority for unions and worker advocates, said Judy Conti, government affairs director for the National Employment Law Project.

“The workers’ rights community will push very hard for her consideration in the lame-duck,” said Conti. “She’s ready to go, she’s exceptional.”

Republicans and business groups are likely to mount a full-court press against McFerran’s confirmation, but their options to block her are few given that only a simple majority is needed for her to go through. Therefore, all eyes will be on the moderate senators in the Democratic caucus who may be reluctant to confirm her.

Retiring Independent Sens. Joe Manchin (W.Va.) and Kyrsten Sinema (Ariz.) have voiced opposition to some of the NLRB’s moves recently, and will likely be considered possible defectors. But Schumer could also take advantage of any Republican attendance issues to confirm the NLRB nominees in the event McFerran doesn’t have full support of the Democratic caucus.