Sen. Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona and Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia on Tuesday voted not to confirm President Joe Biden‘s re-nomination of Lauren McFerran as member of the National Labor Relations Board. The nays from the pair of independents, who both declined to run for reelection in 2024, will block continued control of the labor regulator by Democrats — their former party, which they’ve still caucused with — and paves the way for President-elect Donald Trump‘s next administration to strip worker rights while pursuing an anti-union agenda.
McFerran is the current chair and one of three Democrats serving on the NLRB, which enforces labor law as a federal agency. Ordinarily, the board has five members, each nominated to a five-year term by the sitting president, but there are only four at the moment, including one Republican. Cutting McFerran’s tenure short allows the GOP to gain a three-member majority instead of preserving a Democratic advantage through 2026.
Sinema, who hadn’t cast a vote in the Senate since before Thanksgiving, apparently showed up specifically to side with Republicans against McFerran’s appointment, with Manchin then arriving late to deliver the tie-breaking blow for a final tally of 49 in favor and 50 against. Had he not turned up, Vice President Kamala Harris would have presumably voted to keep McFerran on track for another term on the NLRB. Democrats in the chamber and independent Sen. Bernie Sanders had urged outgoing Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer to do everything he could to ensure Democrats retained the balance of power on the board.
It’s hardly the first time Manchin and Sinema have aligned to thwart Democratic plans in the Senate. Most infamously, in 2022, they joined Republicans in voting down a proposed one-time change to the filibuster that would have cleared the way for two major voting rights bills. The legislation was aimed at ensuring free and fair elections after Trump’s lies about the 2020 election being stolen led to GOP politicians and officials cracking down on voter access across the country.
Both senators also have a record of failing to support workers’ rights and deferring to corporate interests. Manchin, who has made millions from his family’s coal waste brokerage company Enersystems over the years, previously allied with Republicans to kill a progressive labor reform that would have held huge companies like McDonald’s liable for the labor conditions imposed by their franchisees or subcontractors. He also effectively killed the Build Back Better Act, which had a provision to penalized companies that prevent employees from unionizing. Sinema opposed it as well, and once made a spectacle of voting against an increase to the minimum wage.
It’s unclear what Manchin plans to do after his term ends in January, but he served as president of Enersystems before entering politics and could return to the energy business. He will be succeeded on the hill by West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice, a Republican. Sinema, set to be replaced by Democrat Ruben Gallego, once allegedly told Sen. Mitt Romney that she could “do anything” once she left office, explaining, “I can go on any board I want to. I can be a college president.” An aide to Sinema suggested that this personal conversation, reported in a 2023 political biography of Romney, had been “misconstrued.”
Nevertheless, the political stances they took in the Senate have positioned Sinema and Manchin to cash in on corporate opportunities, like many former conservative Democratic lawmakers who acted as a thorn in the side of their party before becoming lobbyists or consultants. After all, both senators have done plenty to protect rich executives’ profits — while ensuring they can continue to exploit low-wage workers.
Daniel D`Amico for SANREMO.FM
