On December 18, 2025, the U.S. Senate confirmed James Murphy and Scott Mayer as new NLRB Board members and Crystal Carey as General Counsel of the National Labor Relations Board. These confirmations fill two long‑vacant seats on the five‑member Board and install a Senate‑confirmed chief prosecutor at the agency for the first time since former General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo was removed earlier this year. After nearly a year of operating without the three‑member quorum necessary to issue decisions, the Board can again conduct normal business. Although many legal observers expect the new NLRB Board members to revisit high‑profile decisions from recent years, employers should not anticipate immediate sweeping change.
Newly Confirmed NLRB Board Members
James Murphy – Long‑Time Insider
James Murphy is expected to chair the Board as one of the new NLRB Board members. This appointment caps a 50‑year career inside the agency. He began his service as a student law clerk in 1974 and spent decades advising successive Boards. His resume includes stints as chief counsel to several Republican members (Harry I. Johnson III, Brian Hayes, and Peter Schaumber), and he served as acting chief counsel to then-Chairman Marvin Kaplan in 2017. Murphy holds a B.A. from Princeton University and a J.D. from the American University Washington College of Law.
Murphy is widely regarded as a procedural expert who knows the agency’s internal operations better than almost anyone. He has helped shepherd enforcement cases and appellate litigation over five decades and is considered a stabilizing figure. Given his institutional knowledge and history of advising Republican appointees, his background suggests a strict adherence to statutory procedures and a restrained approach to novel theories of liability.
Scott Mayer – Management‑Side Labor Counsel
Scott Mayer joins the Board after an extensive management‑side career in private industry. Currently chief labor counsel at Boeing, he advises one of the world’s largest aerospace manufacturers on collective bargaining strategy, labor disputes, and union organizing campaigns. Before joining Boeing, Mayer was regional vice president of labor & employee relations at InterContinental Hotels Group and vice president of labor & employment legal counsel at MGM Resorts International. He previously practiced with management‑side law firms Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP and Blank Rome LLP. Mayer earned a B.S. in Industrial and Labor Relations from Cornell University and his J.D. from Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law.
Mayer’s corporate background suggests he will approach Board cases with an eye toward predictability and flexibility for employers. His public record shows involvement in high‑stakes negotiations and disputes with major unions. Thus, he may favor narrower interpretations of the National Labor Relations Act. During the nomination process, commentators noted his advocacy for traditional employer rights in areas such as disciplinary discretion, workplace policies, and restrictions on union access.
Newly Confirmed General Counsel
Crystal Carey – From NLRB Attorney to Employer‑Side Partner
The Senate also confirmed Crystal Carey as General Counsel, the NLRB’s chief prosecutor. She began her career at the NLRB, working as a field attorney in Region 5. She then served in the Office of Appeals and later as senior counsel to Board Member Philip A. Miscimarra. In nearly a decade at the agency, she worked in both the investigative and advisory sides of the NLRB’s operations. In 2018, she joined Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP alongside Miscimarra and quickly rose to partner. In private practice, she represented employers in collective bargaining, unfair‑labor‑practice proceedings, and union election disputes.
Carey received her J.D. from the Pennsylvania State University Dickinson School of Law. She earned her B.A. from the University of Georgia and an M.A. from Old Dominion University.
As General Counsel, Carey will decide which cases to prosecute, supervise the NLRB’s regional offices, and shape policy through advisory memoranda. Her background representing employers and her public criticism of recent Board decisions indicate she may prioritize curtailing remedies and theories perceived as overreaching. While the GC cannot unilaterally change Board precedent, she can choose cases and legal arguments that prompt the Board to revisit controversial decisions.
Practical Significance for Employers
Board Quorum and Majority
With Republicans Murphy and Mayer joining Democratic member David Prouty, there are now three confirmed NLRB Board members. This is the minimum required to issue decisions. The new Republican majority is expected to review (and, in appropriate cases, reverse) pro-labor decisions from the prior administration as appropriate cases come before them. In the near term, the Board may prioritize adjudicating election objections and unfair‑labor‑practice cases that have been on hold since the quorum was lost soon after President Trump’s inauguration.
Enforcement Priorities
A Senate‑confirmed General Counsel has broad discretion over the NLRB’s enforcement agenda. Acting General Counsel Cowen has already rescinded several guidance memoranda issued by former General Counsel Abruzzo. Carey is expected to build on that foundation by narrowing prosecutorial theories and targeting cases that invite reconsideration of Biden‑era precedents. Likely focal points include:
- Union organizing and elections – reconsideration of Cemex Construction Materials Pacific and related decisions that ease union recognition through card check and limit employer campaign speech.
- Workplace rules and discipline – potential rollback of Stericycle and Lion Elastomers standards that presume many workplace policies to be unlawful and restrict discipline for misconduct during protected activity.
- Remedies and protected activity – narrowing the scope of remedies (e.g., consequential damages under Thryv, Inc.) and definitions of protected concerted activity.
- Severance agreements and waivers – reevaluation of McLaren Macomb and Endurance Environmental Solutions, which call into question confidentiality and non‑disparagement clauses and restrict management‑rights waivers.
Employers should watch for new advice memoranda and unfair‑labor‑practice complaints that signal the General Counsel’s priorities. Even where precedent remains unchanged, enforcement discretion can influence litigation risk and settlement posture.
Compliance Recommendations
Although the Board’s ideological balance has shifted with the addition of two new NLRB Board members, changes will not occur overnight. Cases take time to reach the Board, and new precedent emerges only when the Board agrees to overturn prior decisions. In the interim, employers should:
- Continue complying with existing precedent. Biden‑era decisions such as Cemex, Stericycle, Lion Elastomers, McLaren Macomb, and others remain binding until the Board says otherwise. Handbooks, policies, and labor‑relations strategies should reflect those standards.
- Monitor guidance from the General Counsel. Carey’s early memoranda will offer clues about enforcement priorities and may rescind additional directives issued under Abruzzo. Employers should review any new memoranda carefully and adjust practices accordingly.
- Stay alert to case developments. Once the Board regains a full quorum, it will begin issuing decisions that may gradually narrow or overturn prior rulings. These decisions may identify opportunities to revise policies or adopt more employer‑friendly positions.
- Prepare for potential rulemaking. The agency may now resume rulemaking on topics like joint‑employer status, election procedures, and worker classification.
Looking Ahead
The confirmation of new NLRB Board members James Murphy and Scott Mayer, along with General Counsel Crystal Carey, restores the NLRB’s capacity to function and signals a likely shift toward more conservative interpretations of the National Labor Relations Act. Nevertheless, employers should temper expectations. Changes in Board law typically arise only after cases percolate through investigation, litigation, and administrative appeals—a process that can take years.
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