On April 13, 2026, President Trump nominated James Macy, who currently serves at the U.S. Department of Labor and was previously a management-side labor attorney, for a seat on the NLRB. If confirmed by the Senate, Macy would give Republicans a commanding 3-1 majority on the five-member Board. This is significant because, traditionally, the NLRB does not vote to overrule its own precedent unless there is a 3-vote majority.
At the same time, Trump nominated Democrat-appointed David Prouty, a former union lawyer who has served on the Board since 2021, for a second term. This dual-nomination is in line with the historic practice of nominating a member from the opposing party as a trade to get the majority party’s nomination passed through the Senate.
If this fourth seat is filled, there will still be a fifth seat open. It is likely that President Trump will strategically keep this seat empty through his term, unless he decides to buck tradition by appointing a fourth Republican nominee (assuming he could get this fourth nominee through the Senate).
For many years, Macy worked in private practice, focusing on various employment-related issues. He then joined the Department of Labor in September 2025 as the acting head of the Wage and Hour Division, which enforces federal wage laws.
Macy’s nomination is another step forward in normalizing NLRB operations. The Board lacked a quorum for most of 2025 after President Trump took the unprecedented step of firing Democrat-appointed Gwynne Wilcox. While legal battles carried on, the Board was unable to issue decisions for months. It was not until December 2025 that the Senate confirmed two Trump nominees — Boeing labor counsel Scott Mayer and career NLRB lawyer James Murphy — restoring the Board’s quorum. Murphy became NLRB Chair in March 2026.
Since the restoration of the Board’s quorum, the Board has been tackling the backlog of cases and starting to shift Board policy. However, both members stated during their confirmation proceedings that they would not break with the NLRB’s longstanding practice of requiring three votes to overrule precedent. Thus, major Biden-era decisions, such as bans on captive audience meetings and restrictions on employer work rules, have remained intact.
Macy’s confirmation would supply that critical third vote, potentially opening the door to begin rolling back Biden-era NLRB decisions that boosted union organizing and drew sharp criticism from business groups. That said, the Board has had a slow start, and it takes time for good test cases to percolate up on appeal. Further, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals recently dealt a potentially significant blow to the Board’s adjudicatory powers, finding that it engaged in unlawful rulemaking with respect to bargaining orders through its decision in Cemex Construction Materials Pacific, LLC, 372 NLRB No. 130 (2023). See Brown-Forman Corp. v. NLRB, 24-2107 and 25-1060 (Mar. 6, 2026).
The Senate confirmation process takes time, and there is no guarantee that Macy and Prouty will make it through. However, it is a good sign that the nominations have occurred now, as Prouty’s seat expires this August. This provides several months to navigate the Senate confirmation process. If all goes smoothly, there should not be another gap in the Board’s quorum.
We will continue to monitor the confirmation process and developments at the NLRB, so follow us for updates as the situation evolves.