II 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 991 

To amend the National Labor Relations Act to reform the National Labor 

Relations Board, the Office of the General Counsel, and the process 

for appellate review, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 28, 2023 

Mrs. BLACKBURN (for herself, Mr. CASSIDY, Mr. BRAUN, and Mr. SCOTT of 

South Carolina) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 

referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To amend the National Labor Relations Act to reform the 

National Labor Relations Board, the Office of the General Counsel, and the process for appellate review, and 

for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘National Labor Rela5 tions Board Reform Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD. 

2 (a) COMPOSITION; TERMS.—Section 3(a) of the Na3 tional Labor Relations Act (29 U.S.C. 153(a)) is amend4 ed— 

5 (1) in the first sentence— 

6 (A) by striking ‘‘prior to its amendment by 

7 the National Labor Management Relations Act, 

8 1947,’’ and inserting ‘‘prior to its amendment 

9 by the National Labor Relations Board Reform 

10 Act’’; 

11 (B) by striking ‘‘five instead of three mem12 bers’’ and inserting ‘‘6 instead of 5 members’’; 

13 and 

14 (C) by striking ‘‘appointed by the Presi15 dent by and with the advice and consent of the 

16 Senate’’ and inserting ‘‘appointed by the Presi17 dent, after consultation with the leader of the 

18 Senate representing the party opposing the 

19 party of the President, by and with the advice 

20 and consent of the Senate’’; 

21 (2) by striking the second sentence and insert22 ing the following: ‘‘The sixth member added by the 

23 first sentence of this section shall be appointed for 

24 a term that expires on the day before the first date 

25 on which a full term of another member of the 

26 Board commences that is after the date of enactVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:10 Apr 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S991.IS S991

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1 ment of the National Labor Relations Board Reform 

2 Act. Of the 6 members, there shall be 3 members 

3 representing each of the 2 major political parties 

4 and, beginning on January 1, 2028, each of the 2 

5 members of the Board whose terms expire on the 

6 same date, as established under subsection (e), shall 

7 represent a different major political party.’’; and 

8 (3) in the fourth sentence (including the 

9 amendment made by paragraph (2))— 

10 (A) by striking ‘‘Their successors, and the 

11 successors of the other members,’’ and inserting 

12 ‘‘The successor of such sixth member, and the 

13 successors of the other members,’’; 

14 (B) by inserting ‘‘(except as otherwise pro15 vided during the transition period under sub16 section (e))’’ after ‘‘each’’; and 

17 (C) by striking ‘‘he’’ and inserting ‘‘the in18 dividual’’. 

19 (b) AUTHORITY.—Section 3(b) of the National Labor 

20 Relations Act (29 U.S.C. 153(b)) is amended— 

21 (1) in the first sentence— 

22 (A) by striking ‘‘three or more’’ and insert23 ing ‘‘4 or more’’; and 

24 (B) by inserting before the period the fol25 lowing: ‘‘, with such group consisting of an 


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1 equal number of members representing each 

2 major political party’’; and 

3 (2) in the third sentence— 

4 (A) by striking ‘‘three members’’ and in5 serting ‘‘4 members’’; and 

6 (B) by striking ‘‘Board, except that’’ and 

7 all that follows through ‘‘hereof.’’ and inserting 

8 the following: ‘‘Board. Any determination of the 

9 Board shall be approved by a majority of the 

10 members present.’’. 

11 (c) TRANSITION TO IMPROVED STAGGERED

12 TERMS.—Section 3 of the National Labor Relations Act 

13 (29 U.S.C. 153) is further amended by adding at the end 

14 the following: 

15 ‘‘(e) TRANSITION TO IMPROVED STAGGERED

16 TERMS.—Notwithstanding subsection (a) or any other 

17 provision of this Act— 

18 ‘‘(1) each term of a member of the Board ap19 pointed after the date of enactment of the National 

20 Labor Relations Board Reform Act and before De21 cember 31, 2027, shall terminate on December 31, 

22 2027, or the date on which the term otherwise ex23 pires, whichever is earlier, and new terms for all 6 

24 members of the Board shall begin on January 1, 

25 2028; and 


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1 ‘‘(2) of the 6 members of the Board who are 

2 appointed for the terms beginning on January 1, 

3 2028— 

4 ‘‘(A) 2 of the members shall be appointed 

5 for terms ending on December 31, 2029; 

6 ‘‘(B) 2 of the members shall be appointed 

7 for terms ending on December 31, 2031; and 

8 ‘‘(C) 2 of the members shall be appointed 

9 for terms ending on December 31, 2032.’’. 

10 SEC. 3. GENERAL COUNSEL. 

11 The National Labor Relations Act (29 U.S.C. 151 

12 et seq.), as amended by section 2, is further amended— 

13 (1) in section 3 (29 U.S.C. 153)— 

14 (A) in subsection (d)— 

15 (i) in the second sentence, by striking 

16 ‘‘trial examiners’’ and inserting ‘‘adminis17 trative law judges’’; and 

18 (ii) in the third sentence, by striking 

19 ‘‘He shall’’ and inserting ‘‘Subject to sub20 section (f), the General Counsel shall’’; and 

21 (B) by adding at the end the following: 

22 ‘‘(f) REVIEW OF GENERAL COUNSEL COMPLAINTS.— 

23 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Any person subject to a 

24 complaint that is issued or authorized by the Gen25 eral Counsel under subsection (d) may obtain review 


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1 of the complaint in any district court of the United 

2 States in the judicial district wherein the unfair 

3 labor practice in question was alleged to have oc4 curred, wherein such person resides or transacts 

5 business, or in the United States District Court for 

6 the District of Columbia, by filing in such court, not 

7 later than 30 days after such issuance or authoriza8 tion, a written petition for review of the complaint. 

9 The court may prohibit any further proceedings re10 lating to such complaint if the court determines that 

11 the General Counsel does not have substantial evi12 dence that such person has violated this Act. 

13 ‘‘(2) DISCOVERY.—Any party to a complaint 

14 under paragraph (1) may file a request to the Gen15 eral Counsel to obtain any advice memorandum pre16 pared by an attorney of the Division of Advice of the 

17 Office of the General Counsel, any internal memo18 randum of the Office of the General Counsel, or any 

19 other inter-agency or intra-agency memorandum or 

20 letter described in section 552(b)(5) of title 5, 

21 United States Code, related to the complaint. Not 

22 later than 10 days after the filing of such request, 

23 the General Counsel shall provide such party the re24 quested memorandum or letter.’’; and 

25 (2) in section 4(a) (29 U.S.C. 154(a))— 


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1 (A) in the second sentence by striking ‘‘ex2 aminers’’ and inserting ‘‘administrative law 

3 judges’’; and 

4 (B) in the fourth sentence— 

5 (i) by striking ‘‘trial examiner’s re6 port’’ and inserting ‘‘report of an adminis7 trative law judge’’; and 

8 (ii) by striking ‘‘trial examiner shall 

9 advise’’ and inserting ‘‘administrative law 

10 judge shall advise’’. 

11 SEC. 4. FINAL ORDERS; DISCHARGE. 

12 Section 10 of the National Labor Relations Act (29 

13 U.S.C. 160) is amended— 

14 (1) in subsection (c)— 

15 (A) by striking ‘‘before an examiner or ex16 aminers thereof’’ and inserting ‘‘before an ad17 ministrative law judge or administrative law 

18 judges thereof’’; and 

19 (B) by striking ‘‘such examiner or exam20 iners’’ and inserting ‘‘such judge or judges’’; 

21 and 

22 (2) in subsection (d)— 

23 (A) by inserting ‘‘or the Board has issued 

24 a final order’’ after ‘‘have been filed in a 

25 court’’; 


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1 (B) by striking ‘‘at any time upon reason2 able notice’’ and inserting ‘‘, not later than 1 

3 year after the submission of a report of an ad4 ministrative law judge, or a decision of a re5 gional director, pertaining to such case or 

6 order, upon reasonable notice,’’; and 

7 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

8 ‘‘The Board shall issue a final order reviewing 

9 an appeal of a report of an administrative law 

10 judge or decision of a regional director filed 

11 within 1 year after such report or decision. If 

12 the Board does not issue a final order within 1 

13 year after the report of an administrative law 

14 judge or decision of a regional director, any 

15 party to the case may move to discharge the 

16 case. Upon such motion, the report of the ad17 ministrative law judge or decision of the re18 gional director shall be deemed to be a final 

19 agency action and the Board may not take fur20 ther action on the matter under subchapter II 

21 of chapter 5 of title 5, United States Code. Any 

22 party to the case may obtain review of the order 

23 of the Board in any court of appeals of the 

24 United States in the circuit wherein the unfair 

25 labor practice in question was alleged to have 


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1 occurred, wherein such person resides or trans2 acts business, or in the United States Court of 

3 Appeals for the District of Columbia, by filing 

4 in such court, not later than 60 days after the 

5 issuance of the order, a written petition for the 

6 court to modify or set aside the order. The 

7 court shall review the order de novo.’’. 

Æ 


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