Why it Matters

The House Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions scrutinized Trump's two top labor board appointees during a National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) congressional hearing on June 4 over agency independence, a massive case backlog, and a controversial settlement with Amazon. The session exposed fault lines over whether the board is truly independent from White House pressure.

The Big Picture

The NLRB spent most of 2025 paralyzed after President Trump fired board member Gwen Wilcox, stripping the agency of its quorum for roughly 345 days. Trump then nominated James Murphy as Chairman and Crystal Carey as General Counsel, both sworn in January 7, 2026. The Senate HELP Committee confirmed both in late 2025. Republicans on the subcommittee framed the hearing as an accountability session for cleaning up what they called the Biden NLRB's "damage" while Democrats framed it as a test of whether the agency could remain independent from a White House that has shown little patience for independent regulators. The subcommittee, chaired by Rep. Rick Allen (R-GA) with Rep. Mark DeSaulnier (D-CA) as ranking member, has held sustained NLRB oversight throughout the 119th Congress, including a June 2025 hearing that featured fired Biden-era General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo testifying on behalf of the Communications Workers of America.

What They're Saying

The hearing's most pointed exchange came when Rep. Summer Lee (D-PA) pressed Murphy directly on whether he would oppose a White House liaison at the agency, as contemplated under Executive Order 14215.

  • Murphy: "I'm not sure what position I would be in to oppose that other than to resign."
  • Carey, on the case backlog: "I found a mess, quite frankly."
  • Carey, on the Amazon settlement: "Pursuant to the ethics agreement, any recusal obligation would have expired in December, prior to me being sworn in."

Lee's question landed with particular force. Murphy had just finished affirming that the NLRB "continues to be an independent agency" and that he had "no conversations with the White House involving specific policy matters or involving any specific case." But when pressed on whether he would actively resist a White House liaison, his answer revealed the limits of that independence. Lee later tweeted that Murphy said he would have no option "other than to resign," calling it evidence that the NLRB's independence is under threat.

The Amazon exchange, led by Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN), was the hearing's most confrontational moment. Omar noted that Carey had represented Amazon at her prior firm, Morgan Lewis, and that during her Senate confirmation, she had committed to recusing herself from Amazon-related enforcement decisions. Carey's office later settled a major joint-employer case involving Amazon delivery drivers, a settlement Democrats characterized as a sweetheart deal. Omar pressed Carey on whether anyone from the White House had contacted her about the case. Carey said no. Omar fired back: "We are to believe that Amazon, which donated a million dollars to the Trump inauguration, got the most favorable position outcome, and nobody made a call. That sounds like a huge coincidence." Carey did not directly respond.

Murphy's testimony was measured throughout. A 47-year NLRB veteran who retired in December 2021 and was coaxed back by Trump, he described the backlog as a nonpartisan problem and emphasized that he and Democratic board member David Prouty had worked collaboratively to reduce it. When a Republican member asked how a full board could protect employer free speech rights, Murphy acknowledged that an additional board member "could create a majority to overrule" Biden-era precedents, including the Amazon captive audience ruling that restricted employers from holding mandatory meetings to discourage unionization.

Political Stakes

For Carey, the hearing crystallized a credibility challenge that will follow her throughout her tenure. She represented Amazon at Morgan Lewis for nearly seven years, and her office's settlement of a major Amazon case drew immediate comparisons to the broader pattern of Trump administration deference to large corporate donors. Carey defended her ethics agreement as approved by the Office of Government Ethics, and she argued the settlement actually delivered faster resolution for workers. But Rep. Lucy McBath (D-GA) put the underlying tension plainly: "You may think so, but it is clear that many Americans will find it impossible to believe that your previous work would not make you biased in favor of corporations over regular people."

Murphy's willingness to acknowledge that the backlog was more attributable to the quorum loss than to Biden-era policy choices, and his refusal to commit to reversing Biden precedents without a three-vote majority, were not the full-throated validation some Republicans may have expected. The New Republic characterized Murphy's posture as a "mild whiff of resistance" to MAGA maximalism on labor policy, noting he had not yet overturned any Biden-era precedents.

For workers, the stakes are concrete. Carey confirmed that workers cannot file unfair labor practice claims through private right of action. The NLRB is their only legal avenue. With roughly 18,000 cases pending in the investigatory stage and the agency 43 percent understaffed compared to a decade ago, Carey acknowledged the agency is clearing only about 108 additional cases per month beyond new filings. At that pace, she said, it would take "years" to return to pre-2021 inventory levels.

The budget picture made things worse. Carey disclosed that the House Appropriations Committee had proposed a fiscal year 2027 budget of only $200 million for the NLRB, compared to the $285 million OMB had proposed. She said the lower figure would require cutting between 300 and 460 full-time employees, and she appealed directly to subcommittee members to advocate with their appropriations colleagues.

Yes, but: Murphy repeatedly stressed that the massive case backlog was "far more attributable to the loss of a quorum than to any other issue," a statement that implicitly placed blame on Trump's own decision to fire Wilcox. He also said he would resign rather than resolve a case in a direction dictated by the White House, and he affirmed that encouraging collective bargaining remains "statutorily required" and "a priority" at the agency. DeSaulnier, in his closing remarks, called the hearing "a breath of fresh air" and said both witnesses gave off a sense of institutional seriousness that he found encouraging, while warning he would "hold you accountable" going forward. The ranking member's posture suggested at least a provisional willingness to work with the Trump appointees, a notable departure from the more combative tone of some of his colleagues.

What's next: The subcommittee left the record open for 14 days for additional written submissions. Carey's office has filed an answer to a union's special appeal of the Amazon settlement to the board, meaning the case remains in active litigation before Murphy. The Senate has not yet confirmed a fifth board member, nominee Jim Macy, whose confirmation Murphy said would help accelerate case processing. The House Appropriations Committee's proposed $200 million NLRB budget will face further negotiations, and the Supreme Court's pending ruling in the Slaughter House case, which could determine whether the president has authority to fire board members, looms over every question about the agency's independence.

The Bottom Line

The Trump NLRB's top two officials came to Capitol Hill promising operational reform and institutional independence, and left with both claims under active scrutiny from Democrats who believe the agency is already tilting toward its political patrons.

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