National Labor Relations Board Chairman Marvin Kaplan said Friday the plan was always for him to step aside as chairman once President Trump’s latest nominee to the board, business lawyer John Ring, received Senate confirmation. Kaplan, also a Trump appointee to the NLRB, added that he personally believed that Ring was the right person to lead the board, the federal government’s main labor law enforcement agency.
“I have supported Mr. Ring’s nomination to the NLRB from the start, understanding that, if confirmed, he would be designated Chairman. Like the President, I believe he will be an outstanding Chairman. I welcome his leadership and look forward to working with him until the end of my term,” Kaplan said in a statement to Washington Examiner.
Ring was narrowly confirmed by the Senate in a 50-48 vote Thursday, and later the same day Trump announced that Ring would be assuming chairmanship of the board. The announcement was surprising since Trump had previously appointed Kaplan to serve as head in December when then-Chairman Philip Miscimarra stepped down at the end of his term. The leadership shuffle surprised some in Washington because Kaplan’s chairmanship was not publicly known to be temporary.
Kaplan isn’t leaving the NLRB. He will remain a board member through 2020.
A White House source, speaking anonymously, said that Ring was promoted to the position because he was “the most qualified,” citing his long career as a management-side attorney for the firm Morgan Lewis & Bockius, which included arguing cases before the NLRB. Kaplan, by contrast, was a former congressional staffer and Labor Department official.
“Ring was always going to be chair. Everyone knew that,” said one individual with close ties to the White House who requested anonymity.
Ring’s confirmation gives the five-member NLRB a 3-2 Republican majority through at least 2020.
