The fact that the NLRB budget has remained stagnant for so long — amounting to a nearly 25 percent budget cut when inflation is taken into account — is largely the fault of Republicans, labor advocates say.
By Sharon Zhang, Truthout
The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) will steadily lose its ability to enforce federal labor laws if Congress doesn’t pass an increase in funding for the agency before this session ends in January, the agency union is warning.

Labor union activity has massively increased across the country over the past year, and the agency says it’s struggling to keep up as it undergoes a nine-year drought in budget raises. The union says that the U.S. will soon be facing a “crisis” in labor regulation as the agency’s workload piles up and it can no longer afford to pay all of its employees.
“With fixed costs rising by [more than or equal to] 4.6 percent, the NLRB is facing budgetary Armageddon. The agency is already in a hiring freeze, and for the first time in a decade we are hearing rumblings of employee furloughs,” the NLRB union wrote. “We are DESPERATELY asking Congress to increase our budget in the coming weeks.”
If Democrats don’t increase the NLRB budget before this session of Congress ends in January, it will likely be the party’s last chance to do so for at least two years; Republicans, who are slated to take the House, will not approve NLRB budget raises. This could majorly kneecap the burgeoning labor movement and workers’ ability to challenge employers when they violate labor laws.
Recent Posts
Gaza’s Looming Cancer Epidemic
September 4, 2025
Take Action Now The Many Ways Bombs Can KillBy Joshua Frank, Tom Dispatch A week after the Hamas attacks on October 7, 2023, a large explosion…
It’s Time For Chuck Schumer And Hakeem Jeffries To Step Down
September 4, 2025
Take Action Now We should be funding schools, health care, and education, not $50,000 signing bonuses for ICE agents.By Mehdi Hasan, The Guardian…
Let’s Fund Real Public Safety, Not ICE
September 3, 2025
Take Action Now We should be funding schools, health care, and education, not $50,000 signing bonuses for ICE agents.By Sonali Kolhatkar,…
The DNC’s Dark Money Hypocrisy Was On Full Display In Minneapolis
September 3, 2025
Take Action Now Party leaders decried secret political influence while lobbyists worked the room to kill a Gaza resolutionBy Nadia B. Ahmad…