Labor board's newest member is lawyer and onetime GOP aide

The Senate has confirmed a new member of the National Labor Relations Board.

Lawyer Marvin Kaplan — a onetime Republican congressional aide — joins the five-member board, and he's moving it closer to a GOP majority.

The Republican-controlled Senate confirmed Kaplan by a 50-48 party-line vote on Wednesday.

Democrats say they opposed Kaplan because his work on Capitol Hill seemed to conflict with the labor board's mission to investigate charges against employers and to safeguard workers' rights to unionize.

Republican senators say the board has assumed too much authority.

Kaplan currently is chief counsel at the federal Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.

The Senate hasn't scheduled a vote for President Donald Trump's nomination of Republican William Emanuel for the remaining board seat.