NLRB nominee William Emanuel moved another step closer to Senate confirmation this week when the US Senate approved a closure motion on a party-line vote of 49-44 with several Senators already absent for the Rosh Hashanah holiday. Emanuel was nominated back in June for the fifth and final open NLRB slot. His formal confirmation vote is now scheduled for next week, possibly as early as Monday, September 25. If confirmed, as expected, Emanuel will solidify a 3-2 republican majority on the National Labor Relations Board for the first time since George W. Bush was President. Elsewhere on the NLRB front, the speculation proved true last Friday when President Trump officially nominated attorney Peter Robb to the position of NLRB General Counsel effective when the term of current General Counsel Richard Griffin expires in November. Griffin is largely “credited” with dramatically shifting the position and focus of the independent agency to far more closely align it with organized labor positions, from joint-employer to ambush elections and a whole lot in between.