The ranking member on the Senate Health, Education, Labor & Pension Committee, democratic Senator Patty Murray reaffirmed this week that she will continue to block Republican labor nominees unless/until the Republican majority approves democrat nominees. In light of the ongoing standoff, which has blocked hundreds of federal appointments over the past few years, former NLRB Chairman and democratic NLRB nominee Mark Gaston Pearce withdrew his name from consideration for reappointment as a member of the National Labor Relations Board. Although widely opposed by business interests and recognized as the author of the Obama-era expansion of joint employer, Gaston Pearce was re-nominated last year by President Trump to another 5 year term on the regulatory board. In withdrawing his name, Gaston Pearce said he wanted to remove himself from the “political tug of war.” The move follows by a month, an identical withdrawal by Chai Feldblum, a former democratic member of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, who withdrew when her re-nomination was blocked by Republican Senator Mike Lee (R-UT). The NLRB currently enjoys a 3-1 Republican majority with one vacant Democrat seat (Gaston Pearce’s).