White House proposes 'accelerated' skilled nursing facility payment cuts

President Obama has made three recess appointments to the National Labor Relations Board, which had been operating for several months with just three members.

The new members include two Democrats, Deputy Labor Secretary Sharon Block and union lawyer Richard Griffin, who were both nominated in December. Block and Griffin’s nominations were viewed as pro-labor. The third new member is Republican Terence Flynn. His appointment has been pending for a year, The Washington Post reported.

Republican leaders in Congress, who are unhappy with these and other recess appointments by the president, have threatened to take legal action. Obama appointed the new members during a Congressional recess to avoid Republican threats to block all nominees to the board, observers say. Long-term care groups are concerned that these and other pro-labor actions by the board will be detrimental to nursing homes and assisted living facilities where workers are increasingly being targeted for unionization.