Biden Appoints Jennifer Abruzzo as New General Counsel for the NLRB

The General Counsel of the National Labor Relations Board appears to be changing hands yet again. As a reminder, only hours after taking office, President Biden fired then General Counsel Peter Robb, who was the first NLRB general counsel to be forced out in more than half a century (a general counsel in 1950 willingly resigned at the request of incoming president Harry Truman).

Following the removal of Robb, President Biden tapped Peter Ohr to step in as Acting General Counsel. Ohr has served in this role for the last few weeks and has already taken concrete steps to roll back initiatives and directives from the Robb administration.

On February 17, 2021, President Biden announced that he was nominating Jennifer Abruzzo to replace Acting General Counsel Ohr and become the General Counsel of the National Labor Relations Board.

Ms. Abruzzo is a veteran labor attorney with more than two decades of experience with the NLRB. In fact, she was the Acting General Counsel prior to President Trump’s appointment of Peter Robb in late 2017.

The White House has described Abruzzo as a tested and experienced leader, stating:

“Abruzzo will be an important member in supporting the NLRB’s work to build a stronger, more resilient and more inclusive economy that delivers every American a fair return for their work and an equal chance to get ahead.”

We will be watching Ms. Abruzzo’s confirmation hearing closely and post as the situation develops further.