Rep. Summer Lee Secures Admission from NLRB Chairman That White House Liaison Would Threaten Agency Independence

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WASHINGTON, D.C. - JUNE 4, 2026 - Today, Congresswoman Summer L. Lee (PA-12) questioned National Labor Relations Board officials during a Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions Subcommittee hearing titled "Examining the Policies and Priorities of the NLRB," pressing witnesses on threats to the Board's independence and the urgent need to protect workers' rights to organize, collectively bargain, and seek justice under federal labor law.

Rep. Lee questioned NLRB Chairman Scott Murphy about Executive Order 14215, which seeks to assert White House control over independent regulatory agencies, including by directing agencies to install White House liaisons. When Lee asked whether the NLRB currently has a White House liaison, Murphy responded, "Not that I'm aware of." Rep. Lee then asked whether he would oppose the creation of such a position, given the NLRB's role as an independent agency. Murphy responded that he was "not sure" what position he would be in to oppose it, "other than to resign."

"This administration has waged unconscionable attacks on workers," said Rep. Lee. "Our federal workers were illegally fired. Our VA workers had their collective bargaining agreements terminated. Our teachers are being accused of indoctrinating kids. Our health care workers are being blamed for the failures of corporate monopolies. Our country can only be great when our workers are supported, and the NLRB has a duty to make things right for workers in our country."

Rep. Lee underscored the NLRB's historic importance to workers in western Pennsylvania, pointing to the agency's role in backing steelworkers in the 1930s and workers at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette during one of the longest strikes in recent history.

"I represent a district in southwestern Pennsylvania that knows firsthand how important the NLRB is," Rep. Lee said. "It backed up the steelworkers in the 1930s and the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette workers during one of the longest strikes in recent history. But when Trump removed Gwynne Wilcox from the NLRB, it stripped the Board of a quorum for almost an entire year, and that left workers' livelihoods in the balance. Corporate monopolies in my district and across the country immediately capitalized on the lack of a quorum to try to prevent workers from unionizing."

Rep. Lee also questioned NLRB General Counsel Crystal Carey about whether workers can trust the agency to defend their right to unionize, citing concerns about her previous employment at Morgan Lewis, a firm that represented corporations advancing arguments seeking to undermine the constitutionality of the NLRB.

"Being an independent agency is the core of the NLRB's ability to protect workers," Rep. Lee said. "Every worker in this country has a right to a safe environment, fair pay, health care, and leave care. Unions and collective bargaining are workers' best shots at having those enforced."

Rep. Lee closed by emphasizing that workers across Pennsylvania's 12th Congressional District and across the country are relying on the NLRB to act independently, enforce the law, and protect the right to organize.

Rep. Lee has made defending workers and strengthening the labor movement central to her work in Congress, from fighting to pass the PRO Act and protect the right to organize, to raising wages, ensuring safe workplaces, expanding access to good, clean, union jobs, and standing with workers across industries, including steelworkers, teachers, baristas, home care aides, app-based workers, and striking Pittsburgh Post-Gazette workers. Her questioning today built on that record and made clear that protecting the NLRB's independence is essential to whether workers in Western Pennsylvania and across the country can trust the federal government to defend their right to organize, collectively bargain, and hold powerful corporations accountable. 

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Congresswoman Summer Lee serves on the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform and the Committee on Education and Workforce. Since taking office in January 2023, shehas delivered historic levels of federal investment totaling over $2.7 Billion brought back to Western PA, including over $580 million for infrastructure, over $110 million for affordable transit, over $500 million to keep clean energy manufacturing at home in Pennsylvania, and over $55 million on clean energy efforts in and around schools to help keep our kids and communities safe. These investments will help improve Western Pennsylvania's infrastructure and transit, ensure cleaner air and drinking water, lower housing costs, fund research institutions, fuel clean manufacturing, fund STEM innovation and entrepreneurship, boost workforce development, and create thousands of good paying union jobs.  Lee and her team have also delivered casework and constituent services to over 4,000 constituents with issues ranging from helping our seniors and disabled community access Medicare and social security to helping folks secure housing and helping families with immigration support and passports.