Federal appeals court rules on NLRB unconstitutionality

The 5^th Circuit Court of Appeals today issued a ruling suggesting the structure of the federal government’s top labor dispute regulator, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), is likely unconstitutional. Competitive Enterprise Institute General Counsel Ondray Harris believes the court was right to be concerned about how the NLRB operates with respect to constitutional limits on federal powers:

“The National Labor Relations Board’s current structure raises serious constitutional Article II separation-of-powers and due-process concerns. Therefore, CEI welcomes the Fifth Circuit’s decision to keep injunctions in place because they halt the NLRB proceedings while those constitutional questions are resolved. Today’s ruling is a win for America’s system of separation of powers. Simply put, pausing the NLRB administrative prosecutions protects due process and ensures that accountability governs labor enforcement instead of having agency expedience carry the day.”

The ruling concerns litigation against SpaceX and two other companies, Energy Transfer and Findhelp. The companies allege the NLRB structure violates the U.S. Constitution.