NLRB rulings face review in post-Chevron legal context

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is an agency that most clearly represents the political beliefs of the administration it serves. Relying almost exclusively on decisions rather than regulations to establish Board policy, the routine shifts in its membership result in pendulum-like changes in Board positions. In the past, and reliant on the Chevron doctrine, courts have largely deferred to the Board’s decisions, inasmuch as the NLRB was established to animate the rights established in the nation’s labor law. However, the convergence of an aggressively activist Board and a Supreme Court increasingly skeptical of expansive agency conduct may lead to some epic conflicts.