Backgrounder
Protecting American Jobs Act
*Updated on July 7, 2022
Bill name: Protecting American Jobs Act
Bill sponsor: S. 882, Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT), H.R. 2063
Summary: The Protecting American Jobs Act would remove adjudication authority from the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). Instead, the NLRB would serve only as an investigative body for disputes related to federal labor laws with those cases referred to the federal court system.
- The NLRB is an independent federal agency led by a panel of five senate-confirmed members.
- The majority of the board is selected by the White House while the remaining two members are selected by the minority.
- The partisan makeup of the board has led to broad shifts in federal labor policy after the transitions from one administration to the other, such as from the Republican George W. Bush administration to the Democratic Obama administration.
“The havoc [the NLRB] have wrought by upsetting decades of established labor law has cost countless jobs. This commonsense legislation would finally restore fairness and accountability to our nation’s labor laws.” – Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT)
Bill Status: The Protecting American Jobs Act has not seen legislative action in the House or Senate since 2011. The current version was introduced in the Senate and House in March, 2021 and referred to the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions and House Committee on Education and Labor.