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“No president has ever taken such action in recent memory,” said Burr, the top Republican on the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, at last week’s confirmation hearing for Marty Walsh
Presidents traditionally let the NLRB general counsel finish out their term. Former President Trump
An NLRB general counsel hasn’t been asked to resign since 1950, when President Truman asked for the resignation of Robert Denham because of an anti-union bill. Denham resigned, meaning Robb was the first general counsel to be fired by a president since the role was created.
When asked why Robb was the exception, a Biden administration spokesperson said he was not carrying out the objectives of the NLRB.
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President Joe Biden began his election campaign in a union hall in Pittsburgh and pledged on the eve of the election to be “the most pro-union president you’ve even seen.” As immediate evidence of his intent to make good on that pledge, it is being reported that one of his first acts as president (the email taking this action was apparently sent at 12:23 p.m. on January 20, 2021) was to ask for the resignation of National Labor Relations Board General Counsel Peter Robb. The president apparently gave Robb until 5 p.m. on January 20, 2021, to resign or be fired.
President Biden has fired the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) general counsel after he refused to resign.Biden asked Peter Robb, a Trump appointee, for his resignation on Wednesday. He refused to resign and was fired later that day, a White House spokesperson confirmed to The Hill.Robb was sworn into the role in November 2017 for a four-year term slated to end this November. The NLRB is an independent agency governed by a five-person.
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Minutes following his swearing in, President Joe Biden demanded that Peter Robb resign his post as General Counsel of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). Robb refused to resign and, in an unprecedented move, was summarily fired by the White House.
Robb has been a lightning rod for criticism from organized labor. He was confirmed by the Senate for a term slated to end in November 2021. Published reports say Biden had been under pressure to immediately remove Robb since Election Day.
It is not clear that the President has the unilateral authority to discharge the NLRB General Counsel. In 1950, President Harry Truman asked for the resignation of then-General Counsel Robert Denham, who complied with the request. An involuntary termination has never occurred.