Manchin and Sinema shot the split against Democrats and unions

Don’t let the door hit you on the way out of the Senate!
Photo: Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call/Getty Images

The grounds of the former Democratic Senate Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona were lame ducks for a while after they both chose not to run for re-election in 2024. Sinema was rather notoriously absent from the last votes in the Senate. But she appeared with the bells on relief tank a crucial Democratic confirmation vote that would have strengthened the National Labor Relations Board against the evil Republicans about to take over Washington. And she was joined by her running mate, Manchin, who at least made it clear that he cast a substantial anti-union vote rather than expressing disdain for his former colleagues.

Senate Democrats were seeking to confirm a new five-year term for NLRB Chair Lauren McFerran, which would have secured a 3-2 majority for Democratic nominees on the board through the end of 2026. The other 48 members of the Senate Democratic Caucus have voted yes, but Manchin and Sinema said no.

So far it appears that Sinema has returned to her early retirement without further ado after casting her vote to bump off her former allies. But Manchin explained his The New Republic RECORDED:

Manchin told reporters after the vote that he opposed McFerran’s nomination because she supports “joint employer rule,” which states that an entity can be considered a “joint employer” of another company’s employees if it has or influences control over the employees’ wages, hours, and working conditions, even if it is not the primary employer.

This rule, promulgated by the NLRB under Joe Biden (who also vetoed a congressional resolution, backed by Senate Republicans plus Manchin, Sinema and Angus King, to overturn it) is a especially the bugaboo by large franchisors from Amazon to McDonald’s who believe this makes them unacceptably liable for franchisees’ labor law violations while making it much easier to unionize their many outlets. Manchin has took the stand that they protect the small franchisees by refusing to let their big corporate overseers share their responsibilities because that would ruin the whole franchise system. In any case, it was enough for him and Sinema to give Donald Trump the early Christmas present of an NLRB majority.

It’s pretty safe to say that most Democrats and all union activists won’t be sad to see Manchin and Sinema leave Congress for good, just as they left their party.