Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) pressed Trump’s nominees to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) Thursday on their ability to be impartial in adjudicating cases that involve President Trump’s own companies.
Murray asked nominee Marvin Kaplan, currently the chief counsel of the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission, how he would handle cases that involve the very person who appointed him to the panel.
Kaplan responded that he would consult his ethics officer to “ensure there’s no ethical issue in us participating in the case or me adjudicating the case.”
{mosads}Murray, the ranking member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, pressed further during the nomination hearing, asking if Kaplan would excuse himself if his ethical officer advised him to.
“Absolutely,” he said. “I would never argue with my ethics officer.”
Kaplan said the board is entirely independent.
“As a fundamental matter, the name of the business or the owner of the business should not effect any decision we make,” he said.
According to the NLRB’s website, there are two open cases against Trump companies — one against Trump Corporation and the other against Trump’s presidential transition team, Trump for America Inc.
Employees allege the companies have promulgated and maintained unfair rules that interfere with employees’ right to form or join a union, bargain collectively and engage in other concerted activities for the purpose of collective bargaining.
“This is a really unprecedented situation and it’s really created by the president’s own refusal to divest his business assets,” Murray said.
Trump has passed over the management of his companies to his sons, Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, but has not given up ownership.
Along with Kaplan, Trump has nominated labor lawyer William Emanuel to the board. If confirmed, Kaplan and Emanuel would fill the two vacant seats on the five-member board and shift the balance of power from Democrats to Republicans for the first time since the George W. Bush administration.