Background
Craig Becker was born to Ruth and Sam Becker. His mother, now deceased, was a nurse, and his father a World World War II veteran and a professor at the University of Iowa.
Craig Becker was born to Ruth and Sam Becker. His mother, now deceased, was a nurse, and his father a World World War II veteran and a professor at the University of Iowa.
Bachelor summa cum laude, Yale University, 1978. Juris Doctor, Yale University, 1981.
He was an editor of the Yale Law Journal. Becker clerked for Judge Donald P. Lay from 1981 through 1983. He was a faculty member at University of California, Los Angeles Law School (1989–1994) and has also taught at Georgetown University Law School (1987–1988) and the University of Chicago Law School (1994-1995).
Throughout his career, he has argued many cases in court, including in front of the Supreme Court of the United States.
Becker was nominated by President Barack Obama for a seat on the National Labor Relations Board. A 13-10 vote by a Senate panel on February 4, 2010 allowed his nomination to move to the Senate floor.
However, his nomination failed to move to a floor vote on a vote of 52-33, falling eight short of the votes needed to block a Republican filibuster. On March 27, 2010, President Obama made a recess appointment of Becker to the National Labor Relations Board.
The president’s action enabled Becker to serve without Senate confirmation until the chamber adjourned at the end of 2011.
On January 26, 2011, Obama renominated Becker to the same seat, which was to expire in December 2014. However, Becker"s nomination remained stalled in the Senate, and with Becker"s recess appointment drawing to a close, Obama withdrew the nomination on December 15, 2011. As such, Becker"s term on the board ended at the end of December 2011.
His recess appointment was upheld, under Noel Canning, by the United States. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in 2014.
After leaving the National Labor Relations Board, he taught at Georgetown Law School and is now General Counsel of the American Federation of Labor-Congress-Chief Information Officer.
He then worked at Kirschner, Weinberg & Dempsey (1983–1989), a law firm located in Washington, District of Columbia, and represented members of the American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees and its affiliates, including the Harvard Union of Clerical and Technical Workers. In 2009, he was a member of the Obama transition team, assisting with the review of the United States Department of Labor.
Married Amy Dru Stanley. 2 children.