Trump names acting heads at Labor Department, NLRB, EEOC

By Daniel Wiessner

Jan 21 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump has installed new acting heads at three key federal labor agencies, the first step in what is expected to be a major overhaul of Biden-era policies.

Trump shortly after taking office on Monday named Vince Micone as acting secretary of labor and appointed Marvin Kaplan as acting chair of the National Labor Relations Board and Andrea Lucas as acting chair of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

Kaplan and Lucas are each the sole Republican at their respective five-member agencies, so they will have little power to make changes until Trump's nominees for vacancies are confirmed by the U.S. Senate.

Democrats currently hold a 2-1 majority at the NLRB and a 3-1 majority at the EEOC. The labor board could change hands in the next few months, but Republicans will not have control of the EEOC until July 2026 at the earliest.

Micone, a career federal employee who served on Trump's 2016 presidential transition team, will have more power to begin a regulatory overhaul at the U.S. Department of Labor, including moving to repeal major Biden administration rules. That will likely include regulations on overtime pay, socially-conscious investing, and determining when workers can be treated as independent contractors rather than employees.

Trump has nominated former Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer, a Republican from Oregon, to serve as secretary of labor. Her nomination has sparked little opposition and is expected to be cleared by the Senate. Trump also has tapped former EEOC Commissioner Keith Sonderling to serve as deputy labor secretary.

Micone was most recently the head of DOL's Office of the Assistant Secretary for Administration and Management, which provides administrative support to other department offices. He previously served in various administrative roles at several other agencies including the Department of Commerce, Department of Treasury and Department of Homeland Security.

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(Reporting by Daniel Wiessner in Albany, New York)

((daniel.wiessner@thomsonreuters.com))