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B-231154 1 (1988-05-04)

handle is hein.gao/gaobablbt0001 and id is 1 raw text is: LR Comptroller General of the United States Washington, D.C. 20548 B-231154 DO NOT MAKE AVAILABLE TO PUBLIC READING FOR 30 DAYS May 4, 1988 The Honorable Orrin G. Hatch Ranking Minority Member Committee on Labor and Human Resources United States Senate Dear Senator Hatch: This responds to your letter of April 8, 1988, also signed by Senator Thurmond, concerning the nomination of Mr. John E. Higgins to be a member of the National Labor Relations Board. Mr. Higgins currently is the Deputy General Counsel to the Board and has served in this capacity since 1976. Under the National Labor Relations Act, the General Counsel is the prosecutorial arm of the Board, while the Board itself, which consists of five members, is the adjudicatory body. According to your letter, it has been suggested that in order to avoid a potential conflict of interest Mr. Higgins should disqualify himself from any matter pending before the Board while he served as Deputy General Counsel. You state that this could significantly impair the work of the Board. Therefore, you request our views concerning the extent to which Mr. Higgins should disqualify himself from participation in cases before the Board and what standards and methods should be applied in making disqualification decisions. In his letter to Senator Thurmond dated March 17, 1988, Mr. Higgins refers to a section of the Administrative Procedure Act (APA), 5 U.S.C. § 554(d)(2), and a statute governing the disqualification of federal judges, 28 U.S.C. § 455(b)(3), as providing the standards relevant to disqualification in his case. Based on these provisions, he concludes that disqualification is only required with respect to cases in which he participated personally. He adds: As Deputy General Counsel, I actually participate in only a very small fraction of the unfair labor practice cases that are later presented to the

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