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Senate Confirms 2 New NLRB Members, Creating 3–1 majority

By C. Thomas Davis, James J. Plunkett, and Zachary V. Zagger
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On August 7, 2026, the U.S. Senate confirmed two nominations by President Donald Trump to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), including a new member who shifts the Board’s political composition to a 3–1 Republican majority.

The Capitol - Washington DC

Quick Hits

  • The U.S. Senate confirmed two nominees for the NLRB to new five-year terms.
  • The confirmations give the Board a 3–1 Republican majority that will allow it to overturn precedential decisions.
  • Despite the new additions, one vacancy on the five-member Board remains.

The Senate confirmed Republican James Macy, a U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) official and former management-side labor attorney, and Democrat David Prouty, who was renominated for a second term. Prouty, who was first nominated by President Joe Biden in 2021, and Macy will serve five-year terms running until August 2031.

The NLRB confirmations came as part of a slate of 74 nominations confirmed en bloc in S. Res. 817 on a 51–47 vote. The confirmations continue President Trump’s reshaping of the NLRB after he removed former Democratic member Gwynne Wilcox in January 2025 and nominated two Republican members, Chairman James Murphy and Scott Mayer, who were confirmed in December 2025.

While the NLRB has been operating with a functioning quorum of three members, including Member Prouty, the addition of Macy gives the Board four members with a three-member Republican majority that will allow it to overturn prior precedential decisions. Long-standing Board tradition requires at least three affirmative votes to reverse extant precedent, a requirement unlikely to be met with a 2–1 political composition of the quorum.

Next Steps

The timing of the new NLRB confirmations is significant in that it avoids a potential “quorum gap,” as the Board was set to lose its three-member quorum with Prouty’s prior term expiring this month. Board Chairman Murphy’s term is also set to expire on December 16, 2027.

Still, the two NLRB member confirmations leave the five-member Board with one vacancy that President Trump may seek to fill. It is not clear at this time who may be nominated to fill that vacancy.

Ogletree Deakins’ Traditional Labor Relations Practice Group will continue to monitor developments and will provide updates on the Governmental Affairs and Traditional Labor Relations blogs as additional information becomes available.

This article and more information on how the Trump administration’s actions impact employers can be found on Ogletree Deakins’ Administration Resource Hub.

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