Situational Awareness

It’s Day 20 of the government shutdown and a resolution to the current standoff remains seemingly non-existent. The Senate returns to Capitol Hill this week to vote on a GOP-led measure that would allow members of the military and other federal workers to receive their pay despite the shutdown. The House remains out of session at Speaker of the House Mike Johnson’s (R-La.) discretion; he continues to assert the lower chamber won’t return to D.C. until Senate Democrats lend their support to a House-passed short-term spending measure (also referred to as a continuing resolution). The Senate has unsuccessfully voted on the continuing resolution a total of 10 times. This morning, in an interview with CNBC, top White House economic advisor Kevin Hassett predicted that the government shutdown is “likely to end sometime this week.” Hassett stipulated however that if the Senate doesn’t make any progress on the spending bill, the Trump administration could impose “stronger measures” to force Democrats to cooperate. Last week, a federal judge blocked the Trump administration from continuing an across-the-board government reduction in force (RIF)—a major point of leverage against Senate Democrats.

NLRB Sues to Block California Law Empowering State Labor Agency

Last week, the National Labor Relations Board sued to block a recently enacted California law that attempts to give a state agency the ability to hear private-sector labor disputes typically handled by the federal government. The law is in direct response to the NLRB’s lack of a quorum, which prevents the agency from addressing a current backlog of unfair labor practices. Under AB 288, the Public Employment Relations Board (PERB) can now conduct union elections, process unfair labor practice charges, seek injunctions and penalties against as well as order employers to bargain with unions representing employees who previously were only subject to the Board’s jurisdiction. The basis of the lawsuit is largely similar to one brought by the NLRB in New York last month. According to reports, NLRB acting General Counsel William Cowen has said that the current lack of a quorum hasn’t stopped the NLRB from continuing to operate in many aspects, such as processing representation election petitions, investigating unfair labor practice allegations, and pursuing settlements between workers and managers.