Progressive resistance is crystallizing in Congress as a crippling national rail strike looms on the horizon, threatening to derail President Biden’s maneuvers to secure legislative implementation of the agreement his administration helped craft last month. In the Senate, Bernie Sanders (I-VT) encouraged his colleagues to “stand with rail workers” on Sunday, and in the House, Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), among other progressive voices, insisted that lawmakers should intervene only to “have workers’ backs and secure their demands in legislation.” Interestingly, the rail workers have managed to mobilize a degree of bipartisan support, as Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) signaled that he, too, would oppose a deal that “doesn’t have the support of the rail workers.”

Congressional leaders have proven undeterred, however, continuing to steadily advance their plans. The House is poised to approve legislation implementing the agreement as soon as today. And Senate leadership has signaled they have the votes to survive a filibuster and will swiftly follow suit. All told, then, President Biden conveyed confidence on Tuesday that his plans would prevail and his maneuvering would manage to forestall a shuttering of the nation’s railways.

In regulatory news, the Senate HELP Committee voted on Tuesday to advance Biden’s nomination for administrator of the DOL’s Wage and House Division following a series of procedural delays. President Biden nominated Jessica Looman, a former labor lawyer and union official, to the role — the top enforcer of the FLSA and other major workplace laws — in July, after the Senate blocked his first pick. Looman has been leading the agency as principal deputy administrator since January 2021

Lastly, the NLRB extended the deadline for submitting comments on its rulemaking related to blocking charges. The rule would rescind a regulation promulgated by the Trump Board in 2020 and restore the traditional approach, jettisoned by the Trump rule, under which RDs are empowered to delay processing election petitions in the face of pending charges.