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Trump taps veteran NLRB lawyer as acting GC after removing Biden appointee

ReutersFeb 4, 2025 7:34 PM

By Daniel Wiessner

- U.S. President Donald Trump has named a longtime National Labor Relations Board lawyer and one-time board member as the agency's acting general counsel, temporarily filling a vacancy he created by firing a Biden-era appointee.

Trump late Monday tapped William Cowen, the regional director of the NLRB's Los Angeles office, to lead the agency's prosecutorial arm until a nominee is named and confirmed by the U.S. Senate.

Cowen in a statement said that "the men and women of this agency represent the finest in public service and I thank the President for the confidence that he has shown in me by this appointment.”

The White House did not respond to a request for comment.

Trump last week fired Jennifer Abruzzo, who served as general counsel during the Biden administration, deputy general counsel Jessica Rutter, and, in an unprecedented move, Democratic NLRB Member Gwynne Wilcox. He also named Marvin Kaplan, the board's lone Republican member, as its acting chair.

He told Abruzzo and Wilcox in a letter that they had not "been operating in a manner consistent with the objectives of my administration," citing a series of union-friendly decisions criticized by business groups.

Wilcox's firing left the five-member board without a quorum to issue even routine decisions, bringing hundreds of cases to a standstill, and will test the scope of a provision in federal labor law allowing the president to remove NLRB members only for "neglect of duty or malfeasance in office." Wilcox has said she is considering her legal options.

More than two dozen companies have filed lawsuits challenging the board members' protections from removal and other aspects of the board's structure and in-house enforcement proceedings.

Elon Musk's SpaceX was among the first companies to challenge the board's structure, and has filed two separate lawsuits seeking to block NLRB administrative cases accusing it of illegal labor practices. Musk is a top adviser to Trump and is leading an aggressive campaign to shrink the federal workforce and slash government spending.

The New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is set to hear arguments on Wednesday in the NLRB's appeal of a ruling that blocked the board from pursing a case accusing SpaceX of forcing workers to sign illegal severance agreements.

In a filing on Monday, the board told the 5th Circuit that in light of Trump's removals it will not present arguments on whether removal protections for board members are valid, but that it would proceed with other arguments raised in its appeal.

The NLRB general counsel's office investigates complaints against employers and unions, known as charges, and decides whether to issue formal complaints that are heard by administrative judges and then the five-member board. The general counsel plays an important policymaking role by deciding what issues to bring before the board.

Cowen was appointed to a vacancy on the NLRB in 2002 through a recess appointment by Republican former President George W. Bush, and served for 10 months.

He had worked as a staff attorney for the board from 1979 to 1985, when he went into private practice representing employers and later co-founded a labor consulting and lobbying firm. Law firm Venable acquired the consulting firm in 2003, when Cowen was serving as chief of staff to then-NLRB Chairman Robert Battista, a Bush appointee. Cowen was NLRB solicitor, the agency's chief legal adviser, from 2006 to 2016.

Read more:

Trump paralyzes US labor board by firing Democratic member

Trump makes Musk, the world's richest man, a 'special government employee'

SpaceX wins block on US labor board case over severance agreements

US Supreme Court won't block NLRB case pending challenge to its structure

In Amazon, SpaceX cases, US labor board's power is on the line

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