Not a government sitenlrb.fyi is an independent project. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or operated by the National Labor Relations Board or any government agency. The Board's own site is at nlrb.gov.

The General Counsel

The half of the agency that decides what gets prosecuted. It is not part of the Board, does not report to it, and cannot be overruled by it.

What the office does

Decides which charges become complaints. The Act gives the General Counsel final authority over that, and says so in those terms. A charge the General Counsel will not pursue never reaches the Board at all.
Prosecutes the case before an administrative law judge, through the regional offices.
Supervises the agency's lawyers, other than the personal staff of each Board member and the judges.
Hears appeals from dismissals. When a region refuses to issue a complaint, the appeal goes to this office, not to the Board, and must be filed within 14 days.

The office exists because of a complaint about fairness. For twelve years under the Wagner Act the same agency investigated, prosecuted and judged. Management groups said that made it prosecutor and judge at once. Taft-Hartley split the prosecuting half off in 1947 and gave it its own Senate-confirmed head. The rest of that story.

Who holds it

Crystal Stowe Carey, since 7 January 2026.

Everyone who has held it

General Counsel	Party	From	To	President then in office
Crystal Stowe Carey	Republican	7 January 2026	In office	Donald J. Trump
William B. Cowen	Republican	1 February 2025	7 January 2026	Donald J. Trump
Jessica Rutter	Democrat	28 January 2025	1 February 2025	Donald J. Trump
Jennifer A. Abruzzo	Democrat	22 July 2021	28 January 2025	Joseph R. Biden Jr.
Peter Sung Ohr	Democrat	25 January 2021	21 July 2021	Joseph R. Biden Jr.
Alice B. Stock	not recorded	20 January 2021	21 January 2021	Joseph R. Biden Jr.
Peter B. Robb	Republican	17 November 2017	20 January 2021	Donald J. Trump
Jennifer A. Abruzzo	Democrat	1 November 2017	17 November 2017	Donald J. Trump
Richard F. Griffin, Jr	Democrat	4 November 2013	31 October 2017	Barack Obama
Lafe Solomon	Democrat	21 June 2010	4 November 2013	Barack Obama
Ronald Meisburg	Republican	4 January 2006	18 June 2010	George W. Bush
Arthur F. Rosenfeld	Republican	1 July 2005	3 January 2006	George W. Bush
John E. Higgins, Jr	Republican	4 June 2005	30 June 2005	George W. Bush
Arthur F. Rosenfeld	Republican	4 June 2001	3 June 2005	George W. Bush
John E. Higgins, Jr	Republican	16 May 2001	3 June 2001	George W. Bush
Leonard R. Page	Democrat	29 November 1999	20 April 2001	William J. Clinton
Frederick L. Feinstein	Democrat	3 March 1994	19 November 1999	William J. Clinton
Daniel Silverman	Democrat	28 November 1993	2 March 1994	William J. Clinton
Jerry M. Hunter	Republican	28 November 1989	27 November 1993	George H.W. Bush
Joseph E. DeSio	Republican	4 April 1989	22 November 1989	George H.W. Bush
Rosemary M. Collyer	Republican	16 October 1984	3 April 1989	Ronald Reagan
Wilford W. Johansen	Republican	27 April 1984	12 October 1984	Ronald Reagan
William A. Lubbers	Democrat	24 December 1979	24 April 1984	James Earl “Jimmy” Carter
Norton J. Come	Democrat	20 October 1979	23 December 1979	James Earl “Jimmy” Carter
John S. Irving	Republican	1 December 1975	19 October 1979	Gerald R. Ford
John C. Miller	Republican	15 August 1975	30 November 1975	Gerald R. Ford
Peter G. Nash	Republican	24 August 1971	14 August 1975	Richard M. Nixon
Eugene G. Goslee	Republican	26 June 1971	23 August 1971	Richard M. Nixon
Arnold Ordman	Democrat	14 May 1963	25 June 1971	John F. Kennedy 4
Stuart Rothman	Republican	29 June 1959	13 May 1963	Dwight D. Eisenhower
Jerome D. Fenton	Republican	4 March 1957	28 June 1959	Dwight D. Eisenhower
Kenneth McGuiness	Republican	3 January 1957	3 March 1957	Dwight D. Eisenhower
Theophil C. Kammholz	Republican	29 March 1955	2 January 1957	Dwight D. Eisenhower
George J. Bott	Democrat	29 September 1950	20 December 1954	Harry S. Truman
Robert N. Denham	Republican	1 August 1947	15 September 1950	Harry S. Truman
Gerhard P. Van Arkel	Democrat	14 July 1946	22 June 1947	Harry S. Truman
David A. Morse	Democrat	17 September 1945	30 June 1946	Harry S. Truman
Alvin J. Rockwell	Democrat	1 January 1944	16 September 1945	Franklin D. Roosevelt
Robert B. Watts	Democrat	1 December 1940	31 December 1943	Franklin D. Roosevelt
Charles Fahy	Democrat	16 September 1935	27 September 1940	Franklin D. Roosevelt

40 holders since 1935. The Board's list marks some of these as acting rather than confirmed, with footnotes this site does not reproduce. Read the Board's own page where that distinction matters.

The President column is worked out, not quoted Same as on the members page: matched from the start date, not taken from the Board.

Where this comes from

The Board's own General Counsels Since 1935.
The office's authority: National Labor Relations Act, Section 3(d), codified at 29 U.S.C. § 153(d).
The 14 day appeal: 29 C.F.R. § 102.19.

The Labor Board FYI is independent, and is not the Board or any government agency. Where a number here disagrees with the Board's, the Board is right: tell us at [email protected]. If a name here is a private person and not a business or a union, write to the same address and it comes off. Where this comes from.