NLRB Regains Its Quorum: What Employers Should Expect as Rulings Ramp Up

After nearly a year of operating with its hands tied, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is finally able to function again. The Senate confirmed James Murphy and Scott Mayer as board members and Crystal Carey as general counsel on Dec. 18.

This restores the quorum the agency needs to issue decisions — something it has been unable to do since early 2025. For employers and unions who have been watching cases pile up with no clear sense of when they might move, this marks a meaningful turning point.

The shift is not just procedural. It represents a reshaping of the agency’s leadership at a moment when the direction of federal labor law has been unusually fluid.

Murphy, a retired career NLRB lawyer, brings decades of institutional memory and a deep familiarity with how the board’s internal gears turn. Mayer arrives from the private sector, where he served as chief labor counsel at The Boeing Company, giving him a management‑side vantage point that has been largely absent from the board in recent years. And Carey, now stepping into the general counsel role, will have significant influence over which cases move forward and which legal theories the agency chooses to test.

Together, they form a leadership team that is expected to steer the agency in a direction distinct from the one employers have experienced over the past several years.

For most of 2025, the absence of a quorum meant the board could not issue final decisions, even as its regional offices continued to investigate charges, run elections, and litigate cases before administrative law judges (ALJs). Those ALJ decisions stacked up, but they could not be reviewed or finalized. Parties with pending appeals were left waiting, and the development of board law effectively froze.

Now, with the quorum restored, that backlog is poised to move — and likely at a brisk pace. Staff continued drafting decisions throughout the lapse, so many cases are already teed up for action.

As the board returns to full strength, the broader implications will unfold gradually. A Republican‑appointed majority is now in position to reassess several Biden‑era decisions that expanded employee rights and remedies. Observers expect renewed scrutiny of:

• Workplace rule standards
• Enhanced unfair labor practice remedies
• Union recognition procedures
• Confidentiality and non-disparagement provisions in severance agreements

None of this will change overnight; Board law evolves case by case, and meaningful shifts require the right facts, the right vehicles and sustained majorities. But the direction of travel is likely to be different from the one employers have grown accustomed to in recent years.

For employers, the return of a fully functioning board marks the beginning of a more dynamic period. Long‑stalled cases will start to move, new legal theories will be tested, and the agency’s priorities may shift in ways that affect day‑to‑day labor relations strategy.

This is a good moment to take stock of any pending NLRB matters that could be affected by the new decision‑making environment, revisit policies and handbooks that were revised to comply with Biden-era NLRB precedent, and pay close attention to early signals from the board and general counsel about where they intend to focus.

The next year is likely to bring a mix of continuity and change. Some Biden‑era doctrines may remain intact for now, while others may be narrowed or reconsidered as the right cases reach the board. Employers with active or anticipated NLRB matters should be thinking not only about timing, but also about the legal standards that may apply by the time their cases are decided. Staying attuned to early decisions, enforcement initiatives, and the kinds of cases the general counsel chooses to advance will be essential to anticipating where the law is headed and positioning your organization to navigate the evolving landscape.

We will continue to monitor developments closely as the reconstituted board begins issuing decisions and the general counsel’s office signals its enforcement approach. Please contact John Duke or any member of the Phelps labor and employment or labor relations teams if you have questions or need advice.