On February 2 at 4:00 pm, the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) will hold a hearing on the controversial nomination of Craig Becker to be a member of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). In December, the Senate returned the nomination to the White House for reconsideration after Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) put a hold on it. Instead of withdrawing the nomination, President Obama re-nominated Becker last week.

Many in Congress and the business community fear that Becker – who serves as Associate General Counsel to both the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and the American Federation of Labor & Congress of Industrial Organizations – would try to implement portions of the beleaguered Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) through rulemaking or Board decisions. Now that EFCA’s chances of passage this term are greatly diminished by the new composition of the Senate, organized labor may look to the NLRB to advance its agenda. A HELP Committee vote could come as early as February 4. In October, the HELP Committee approved Becker’s nomination by a 15-8 vote.  At that time, the HELP Committee also approved the nominations of Mark Pearce and Brian Hayes by voice vote. It is believed that Democrats want to submit all three nominees for a full Senate vote as a package, a move that would place less scrutiny on Becker as an individual.