{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["http://www.warren.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/warren-delauro-pocan-and-lee-blast-nlrb-members-admitting-they-would-defy-recusal-guidance-from-ethics-officials", "Warren, DeLauro, Pocan and Lee, Blast NLRB Members Admitting They Would Defy Recusal Guidance from Ethics Officials", "2020-12-14", "2020", "2020-12", "Democrat", "Senate", "MA", "Elizabeth Warren", "W000817", "www.warren.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "December 14, 2020\n\t\t\t Warren, DeLauro, Pocan and Lee, Blast NLRB Members Admitting They Would Defy Recusal Guidance from Ethics Officials \n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t \n\t\n\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n        \n\t\t\t\t Three NLRB Members say federal ethics laws allow them to disregard ethics official's guidance on recusal and substitute their own \"independent judgment\"\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t William\r\nJ. Emanuel Response | Marvin\r\nE. Kaplan Response | Lauren\r\nMcFerran Response John\r\nF. Ring Response on Behalf of Board | John\r\nF. Ring Individual Response Washington, DC - United States Senator Elizabeth Warren\r\n(D-Mass.), a member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP)\r\nCommittee, Representatives Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) Chairwoman of the House\r\nLabor, Health and Human Services, and Education Appropriations Subcommittee,\r\nMark Pocan (D-Wis.), and Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) released the following joint\r\nstatement regarding answers from the majority of National Labor Relations Board\r\n(NLRB) members attesting they would defy ethics officials' recusal\r\nguidance. \"It should alarm every worker, employer, and American that a majority\r\nof NLRB members have stated they would openly defy the guidance of ethics\r\nofficials, and rely instead on their 'individual judgment' about whether their\r\nconflicts of interest necessitate recusals. Public service is a public trust,\r\nand by brazenly flouting our federal ethics program, these members have\r\nundermined public confidence in the integrity of the NLRB and in these Board\r\nmembers' commitment to comply with principles of ethical conduct,\" wrote\r\nthe lawmakers. The lawmakers wrote\r\nto the NLRB in March, regarding concerns that the Board's November 2019\r\nethics report and new recusal guidance \"inexplicably suggests that it is\r\nnot only permissible, but preferable for a potentially-conflicted Board member,\r\nrather than a third party, to make the final determination of whether they\r\nshould recuse.\" The lawmakers wrote that the new NLRB guidance\r\n\"belies common sense and decades of relevant legal precedent,\" and\r\nurged the NLRB to rescind the protocol. In September, the\r\nlawmakers raised additional questions about the policy and the Board's lack\r\nof public transparency regarding revisions to the ethics report and the\r\nconsequences of their new recusal process. The members of Congress also sent\r\nletters to each NLRB member requesting they commit to following the NLRB\r\nDesignated Agency Ethics Official (DAEO)'s recommendation regarding recusal if\r\nadvised to recuse from a case or other official matters. In response, Chairman\r\nJohn F. Ring, Member William\r\nJ. Emmanuel, and Member Marvin\r\nE. Kaplan refused to commit to following the guidance of the NLRB\r\nDesignated Agency Ethics Official (DAEO) regarding recusal. Chairman John Ring\r\nand Member Emmanuel both threatened that if they \"disagree\" with an\r\nethics official's guidance, they would not follow it; Members Emmanuel and\r\nKaplan both stated they believe federal ethics laws allow them to \"make an\r\nindependent judgment regarding (any) recusal,\" rather than following an\r\nethics officials' judgment. Chairman Ring and Members Emmanuel and Kaplan only\r\nmade a firm commitment to follow the inadequate ethics protocol they helped\r\nwrite. In contrast, Member Lauren\r\nMcFerran responded: \"Based on these positions, and the oaths that I\r\nhave taken as a public servant, I can unequivocally commit that I will follow\r\nthe g?idance of the NLRB Designated Agency Ethics Official if I am advised to\r\nrecuse myself from a case or any other official matter.\" Member McFerran\r\nvoted against items included in the November 2019 report, including the\r\nrequirement \"allowing individual Board members to determine their own\r\nrecusal motions.\" The November 2019 NLRB report included new guidance on procedure regarding\r\ninstances when a member ignores the advice of a DAEO to recuse themselves from\r\na case due to a conflict of interest. The NLRB initiated the report after the\r\nNLRB Inspector General (IG) and DAEO found that Member William Emanuel violated\r\nhis ethics pledge by participating in the Hy-Brand Industrial Contractors, Ltd.\r\nand Brandt Construction Co. case, which the Board subsequently vacated because\r\nof that violation. The new guidance allows NLRB members to simply ignore the\r\nDAEO's determination and \"(reach) his or her own decision\" on\r\nrecusal. Writing on behalf of the Board, Chairman\r\nRing also told the lawmakers that the Board's new ethics protocol, written\r\nin response to Member Emanuel's failure to recuse himself due to a conflict of\r\ninterest, creates a mechanism \"to handle recusals where there might be a\r\nlegitimate disagreement over the recusal obligation.\" As the lawmakers\r\nwrote to the NLRB in March, \"instead of strengthening the agency's\r\nethics procedures to ensure that, in a future similar situation, Board members\r\nwould not participate in any matter in which they had a conflict of interest,\r\nthe agency's report created procedures that explicitly allow such\r\nconflicts.\" Member Emanuel's term doesn't expire until August 27, 2021; Ring's on\r\nDecember 16, 2022; and Kaplan's on August 27, 2025. Member McFerran's term\r\nexpires December 16, 2024. There is one vacancy on the Board. ###\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\n\t  \n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t \n\t\t\n\t\t\tPrint\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tEmail\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tTweet\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t \n\t\n\t\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n    \n\t\n\t\n    \n    \n    \n    \t\n    \t\n\t    \t  \n\t\t    \n\t\t    \n\t\t    \tPrevious Article", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["http://www.warren.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/warren-delauro-pocan-and-lee-blast-nlrb-members-admitting-they-would-defy-recusal-guidance-from-ethics-officials"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 2.7213518042117357, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}