The Party of No strikes again:
Forty-one Republican senators sent a letter to President Barack Obama Friday urging him not to grant a recess appointment to controversial National Labor Relations Board nominee Craig Becker.
Becker—a strong union advocate and vocal supporter of the Employees Free Choice Act legislation—failed to receive enough votes for cloture in February to have his nomination considered for an up-or-down vote by the Senate, 52-43.
“The U.S. Senate has made its feelings clear on Mr. Becker and his ability to serve in a fair and impartial manner as a member of the NLRB,” said Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz), one of the chief authors of the letter. "If this administration chooses to recess appoint Mr. Becker, it would be just another example of putting the will of one special interest group over the will of the American people.”
Becker only received the votes of 52% of senators. Therefore it is the will of the U.S. Senate and indeed of the American people that the NLRB continue to be unable to function:
The board has been forced to postpone hundreds of cases as lawmakers have quarreled over nominees of both Obama's and President George W. Bush's. Three of its five seats have been vacant for more than two years.
Notwithstanding Republican attempts to portray this as an issue of principle -- The Senate Has Voted!!! (to prevent an up or down vote) -- it's starkly clear that Becker is "controversial" because he is on the side of working people, not big business. And, of course, the "principle" they're striving to uphold is more than a little flexible: Bush made 171 recess appointments (PDF), seven of which were to the NLRB.