Policy Week in Review – January 30, 2026
•January 30, 2026
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Why It Matters
These actions reshape labor dispute standards, increase transparency in pharmacy benefits, and signal the administration’s fiscal priorities, affecting employers, unions, and plan sponsors nationwide.
Key Takeaways
- •NLRB Advice advises dismissing three expansive labor charges
- •PBM fee disclosure rule targets self‑insured plan fiduciaries
- •Funding deal delays shutdown but includes $13.7B labor budget
- •Upcoming hearings focus on retirement, AI, disability employment
- •NLRB budget cut by $5M amid broader reforms
Pulse Analysis
The NLRB’s Division of Advice is signaling a retreat from the broader interpretations of recent Board rulings that many employers feared would expand union leverage. By recommending dismissal of a union’s unit‑recognition claim, a Slack‑based employee criticism case, and an overreaching non‑solicitation provision, the Advice memos reinforce a more conservative legal baseline. This shift may embolden companies to contest unfair‑labor allegations more aggressively while prompting unions to refine their filing strategies to meet stricter procedural thresholds.
Meanwhile, the Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration is advancing a transparency rule that obliges pharmacy benefit managers to reveal direct and indirect compensation to fiduciaries of self‑insured group health plans. The proposal operationalizes President Trump’s Executive Order 14273, aiming to lower prescription‑drug costs by exposing hidden fees. For plan sponsors, the rule promises clearer cost structures but also introduces compliance burdens, potentially reshaping PBM contract negotiations and influencing market pricing dynamics across the health‑benefits ecosystem.
Congress’s FY2026 appropriations package averts a prolonged shutdown yet leaves a brief funding gap that could close over the weekend. The legislation earmarks $13.7 billion for the Labor Department, including $285 million for apprenticeship expansion, $55 million for rural job training, and $15 million to boost cybersecurity talent. Simultaneously, it trims the NLRB budget by $5 million, reflecting broader fiscal tightening. Upcoming Senate HELP and House Education and Workforce hearings on retirement, artificial intelligence, and disability employment will further shape policy direction, underscoring the administration’s focus on workforce development and regulatory clarity.
Policy Week in Review – January 30, 2026
NLRB Division of Advice Recommends Dismissal of Expansive Charges
The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) Division of Advice (“Advice”) released a series of memos that recommended dismissal of charges that appear to have taken expansive views of Biden-era Board precedents. Advice is a department of the Board that provides guidance to regional offices about novel or difficult legal issues. In these memos, Advice recommended that the regional officials dismiss three charges.
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The first involved a union’s claim for recognition in an expanded unit where the union didn’t file a failure‑to‑bargain charge necessary to get a bargaining order.
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The second involved a newspaper employee’s criticism of the employer on a Slack channel and a related work rule.
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The third involved an allegedly overbroad non‑solicitation provision in a former employee’s employment and stock‑option agreements.
In each case, the charges appeared to expand precedent from the Biden Board to new territory. The memos were published on the Board’s website.
Separately, NLRB General Counsel Crystal Carey this week issued a memorandum in which she indicated her immediate priority is to reduce the backlog of cases at the Board.
DOL/EBSA Proposes PBM Fee Disclosure Rule
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration is proposing a regulation that would require providers of pharmacy benefit management (PBM) services and affiliates to disclose information about their compensation to fiduciaries of self‑insured group health plans. The proposal states these disclosures are needed to implement President Trump’s Executive Order 14273 to lower drug prices and improve employer health‑plan transparency into the direct and indirect compensation received by pharmacy benefit managers. Comments are due 60 days after publication in the Federal Register.
Although Government Funding Deal Reached, Brief Shutdown Expected
As of this writing, congressional leaders have agreed on a FY2026 funding package that would keep the federal government operating through September 30. The deal includes a two‑week continuing resolution to extend current funding levels at the Department of Homeland Security to allow additional time to negotiate spending levels on immigration‑enforcement measures. However, pursuant to the current continuing resolution, federal funding runs out at midnight tonight.
With respect to timing, the Senate is still reviewing various provisions included in the package and it is unclear when they will vote. The House is not in session this week. Therefore, it is most likely that final passage will be delayed until at least Monday or early next week when the House is back in session to approve the funding package and send it to President Trump for his signature. Consequently, a short‑term federal government shutdown is likely over the weekend into possibly early next week.
The bill includes a total of $13.7 billion for the Department of Labor, with significant allocations to support President Trump’s Executive Order 14278, “Preparing Americans for High‑Paying Skilled Trade Jobs of the Future,” by providing $285 million to support the administration’s goal to create one million new apprenticeships; $55 million for job training in rural areas; and $15 million to grow the nation’s cybersecurity workforce. Further, the bill reduces funding for the National Labor Relations Board by $5 million.
Upcoming Congressional Hearings
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The Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee will hold a hearing on February 5 at 10:00 a.m. ET on strengthening Americans’ retirement, examining the successes of the Railroad Retirement Board.
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The House Committee on Education and Workforce will hold the second hearing of its series on artificial intelligence, titled “Building an AI‑Ready America: Adopting AI At Work,” on February 3 at 10:15 a.m. ET.
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The Committee will also hold a field hearing on Disability Employment in Wisconsin on February 13 at 10:15 a.m. CST.
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