WASHINGTON--U.S. Senator Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) today blasted the Obama Administration for recess appointing controversial nominee Craig Becker to serve on the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). Just two days ago, Hatch and Senator John McCain (R-Arizona) spearheaded a letter signed by all 41 Senate Republicans urging President Obama not to circumvent the Senate that rejected Becker’s nomination on a bipartisan basis in early February with a recess appointment. Becker, a lawyer for both the AFL-CIO and the SEIU, has stated that he believes card check legislation that would get rid of the secret ballot for union elections could be implemented through regulation. Hatch issued the following statement:

“In his January State of the Union address, President Obama pledged that he would work in a bipartisan fashion to confront the challenges facing our nation. Instead of living up to that pledge, the President today ignored the Senate’s bipartisan rejection of a highly-controversial nominee by recess appointing Craig Becker to serve on the National Labor Relations Board. This is a man who believes that card check legislation can be implemented through regulation – a clear demonstration of how radical and far outside the mainstream his views are.

“What makes this decision even more troubling is that it comes only two days after all 41 Republicans urged the President not to take this action. It didn’t have to be this way. Choosing a consensus nominee would have sent a strong signal that the Administration hears our concerns and is serious about working across the aisle. They regrettably did not choose that course.”