In today’s news and commentary, Democrats invite fired federal workers to Trump’s Tuesday address to a joint session of Congress, the NLRB’s acting general counsel announces agency focus on boosting settlements, and the United Federation of Teachers may face a regime change just as mayoral candidates vie for the union’s endorsement.

On Tuesday evening, President Trump will address a joint session of Congress for the first time since returning to office. It is predicted that he will use part of the speech to defend his government restructuring initiative led by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and responsible for moves to lay off tens of thousands of federal workers. Many Democrats have indicated that they will not attend the speech. Illinois Representative Brad Schneider, along with several other Democratic lawmakers, are taking a different approach. Several have invited former federal workers in an effort to protest last month’s mass firings and funding cuts. Representative Schneider says he didn’t want the president to “get a free pass” from seeing the effects his administration has had on real people.

The National Labor Relations Board’s acting general counsel, William Cowen, spoke recently at an American Bar Association conference. Cowen announced that the agency’s key goals would be “traditional jurisdiction,” with a focus on boosting settlements. As Anjali reported, GC Cowen withdrew over two dozen Abruzzo-era memos last month and the Board does not currently have the quorum necessary to hear cases and issue decisions. Cowen suggested that the case backlog was unsustainable and that the Board was unable to deliver justice because of the agency’s emphasis on seeking greater backpay and remedial measures in settlements. Management-side practitioners say this insistence on full relief under the law made companies reluctant to settle with workers. The NLRB’s settlement rate over the last three years remained around 96%.

As New York City’s mayoral race grows increasingly contested, one of the city’s largest unions faces leadership challenges of its own. Michael Mulgrew has led the United Federation of Teachers, which represents approximately 200,000 New York City teachers, for nearly 15 years. He belongs to the Unity caucus, whose leadership has controlled the union since the 1960s. Rank-and-file opposition groups have mounted campaigns each election, but rarely come close to threatening Unity caucus control. This year may be different. As eleven and counting mayoral candidates seek union endorsements, they are, for the first time, confused about who to court at the UFT. Mulgrew’s support among retirees, a small but significant voting bloc, has waned since his push for Medicare Advantage. Many rank-and-file members were frustrated by Mulgrew’s approach to pandemic-era policies. Ballots will be counted from the end of May until the first week of June, with the mayoral primary scheduled for June 24.