President Biden has repeatedly reminded the country that the deep divisions and challenges ahead can only be overcome through unity.
But if that’s true, he’s certainly not leading by example.
Shortly after being sworn in the Biden administration gave Peter Robb, general counsel of the National Labor Relations Board, a choice: resign by COB or get fired.
As The Wall Street Journal’s Kimberley Strassel points out, the decision to oust him breaks precedent and "will likely be only the first of many exercises of raw power."
The general-counsel position is a Senate-confirmed four-year appointment at an independent agency; Mr. Robb had 10 months left in his term. No NLRB general counsel had ever been fired, and the Biden White House provided no cause for the action. Mr. Robb pointed all this out in a return letter and respectfully declined to step down. So Mr. Biden (“we must end this uncivil war”) canned him. […]
For all the talk of Mr. Biden as the embodiment of gentlemanly politics, Democrats have no intention of playing by the rules. They intend to impose an agenda and won’t let a little thing like a 70-year-old precedent, or embarrassment over double standards, get in their way.
The Robb firing is an early indicator of Mr. Biden’s top priorities. Democrats rely on unions to get elected, and unions are therefore first in line to get rewarded. The most effective vehicle for that is the NLRB, which has sweeping power to enforce labor practices on companies across America. (WSJ)
While the Left cheered the move, calling Robb a "toxic figure," those on the Right said his firing was "unacceptable."
“President Biden’s continuous calls for unity and civil discourse upon taking his oath of office are already proving to be empty aspirations," said Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.), the ranking member on the House Education and Labor Committee. "The Biden administration appears to be rewarding their friends in Big Labor on day one through this inappropriate demand that NLRB General Counsel Robb resign immediately or be forcibly removed. This outrageous ultimatum that General Counsel Robb step down from his four-year Senate appointment less than ten months before the expiration of his term is unacceptable and flouts the National Labor Relations Act. I urge President Biden to rescind this ill-advised and divisive action against a Senate-confirmed official and allow General Counsel Robb to finish the job he was appointed to do independently and free from political influence.”