Catherwood LibraryILR School

Appointing longtime NLRB veteran James Murphy as chair of the National Labor Relations Board, has filled a leadership void that left the agency unable to function for much of the previous year. The board had been paralyzed after losing its quorum, delaying case decisions and leaving both workers and employers in limbo. With Murphy and another Republican now sworn in, the NLRB has resumed clearing its backlog, though major reversals of Biden‑era precedents remain unlikely without a third Republican vote. This underscores how the agency’s composition could again shift later in the year as terms expire.